Pre or Post it's still a Need

I'm not sure exactly when it is but when we reach a certain age the thought of death starts to enter our minds more frequently. When we're young we have the attitude that nothing can hurt us; we never even give death a single thought. Then something changes, perhaps we see people who are closer and closer to us in age dieing and it becomes a new concern. Perhaps we see our older family dieing, and it's getting closer. It's not a concern that we lose sleep over but nonetheless it's a thought that wasn't there yesterday.

Pre-planning my funeral? Are you nuts? Why on earth would I want to spend any time let alone put some cash away for the day I die? Well, there are many answers but all are quite simple. First of all, there's no question in my mind that when a death occurs the funeral director is the last person you want to see. You know something has to be done but you'd prefer you didn't have to be doing it. So, with the help of family, friends, clergy and the director you somehow struggle through the process all the while dazed and wondering where the money to pay for this is going to come from. You had no intention to "plan" and "buy" a funeral right now; maybe ever. We can't control when we die , but if we're lucky we can control our funeral. It's not like it's the luck of the draw whether or not we're going to die, it's inevitable. We insure our houses, we insure our cars, we insure our boats, our jewelry, most things of value so that if they are damaged or lost we will have the necessary funds to either repair or replace them. To take care of their needs.

I'm not trying to infer that by pre-planning and pre-paying for your funeral that you are insured to be repaired or replaced. The point I'm making is that you're insuring that the people you leave behind will not have to make decisions for you; will not have to pay for your death. I often hear people say "this is the last thing I can do for mom". That's all well and good but it's a struggle for anyone to have to make decisions at the time of a death. Wouldn't you want your pre-planned funeral to be the last thing that you do for your family? It's not just about money though. It's types of services, it's locations of burial, it's music, it's scripture readings, it's information that is not often at your fingertips. What would they have wanted? Make it easier, put it all on paper and if at all possible pay for it. You will be doing your family a service that can only be compared to love; for them.