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Grief, Sleep, and Health

After funerals at funeral homes in Monticello, FL, grieving family members may find it difficult to go to sleep, get enough sleep, or to get quality sleep. It is normal for most grieving people to experience some difficulty sleeping.

Processing the loss of someone you love is very stressful and emotional. Because of this additional stress, you may find your ability to sleep and the quality of sleep that you get when you finally do sleep is adversely affected.

An on-going lack of sleep or poor quality sleep can result in sleep deprivation. Sleep deprivation is be hazardous even in performing normal day-to-day activities, such as driving or working around heavy equipment, because accidents are more likely to happen. Sleep deprivation also allows toxins to start accumulating in the brain, which can eventually lead to cognitive impairment and dementia.

However, there are measures you can take that may help you sleep better.

One inhibition to sleep is tension and anxiety, which can keep your brain in high gear all the time. Find something that relaxes you and puts your mind to ease. Develop a nightly bedtime ritual where you call it a day and you don’t do anything but the things that allow you to relax. One thing that will help is to disconnect from all electronic devices (including television) at least two hours before bedtime. Hot decaffeinated tea can be soothing while you do relaxing things. This gives your mind a break from the reality of your loss. A warm shower taken right before going to bed can also relax you and help make falling to sleep easier.

Your bedroom should be a place that makes sleep inviting. If your spouse has died, the bedroom you shared may make you feel lonely and sad. Makeover the room by painting the room a different color, moving all the furniture around, and purchasing new bed linens and window treatment to make the bedroom into a new room. If this is not in your budget yet, you should move to another bedroom in the house and make it your own.

If you decide to transform your bedroom, be aware of the effects of different paint colors. The most calming color, according to research is blue, so you could pair a lighter shade of blue with a light tan color (earth tone colors are also calming) could make your bedroom more inviting to sleep in. While bright, vivid colors on your bedroom walls may seem like a good idea because they’d elevate your mood, they can also stimulate your mind, which will make it harder to fall asleep and to sleep well.

Good sleep is more likely when you exercise daily. Exercise helps alleviate stress and burns energy, which can decrease restlessness and how long it takes you to fall asleep. Choose something you love to do for your exercise routine. Incorporate this into your daily schedule – preferably at the same time every day – and do it for at least 30 minutes.

Losing someone you love is very difficult and grieving that loss is very stressful. But you can reduce some of the mental, emotional, and physical toll that grief takes by trying to get healthy, restorative sleep every night.

For resources that can help with sleep after funerals at funeral homes in Monticello, FL, our sympathetic and experienced staff at Lifesong Funerals & Cremations is available to help.

Funeral Home Terminology

One of the cremations services in Havana, FL is to assist the families who entrust their funeral needs to us with the sometimes, new-to-them, terminology used in funeral homes as cremations are being planned.

There is a vocabulary that is specific to the funeral industry and to the services they offer. It’s good to know and understand this vocabulary ahead of time. Bereaved families are in the fog of grief when they’re making cremations or burial arrangements. This means any new or unfamiliar information will go in one ear and out the other. The brain is overloaded during this time and simply can’t absorb or process new or unfamiliar information.

Burial is the action of placing a deceased person underground.

A columbarium is a structure (freestanding or within a mausoleum) with niches that urns with cremains can be stored in. Small gravestones or grave markers are placed over (if closed) or under (if open) each niche to identify the person whose cremains are stored there.

Cremation involves incinerating the dead body, and returning what remains – cremains – in a sealed urn to the family of the deceased. Before cremation takes place, the body of the deceased is positively identified by the family. Only one body is cremated at a time. The cremation process takes about two to three hours.

A crematory is where cremations are performed.

Crypts are burial chambers that are partially or completely underground. Double crypts are designed for two caskets to lie side by side.

Death is the end of life.

Donations that are made in memory of people who have died are financial gifts that are given either a charity the deceased person supported or a charity that the donor selects.

Embalming encompasses both preserving a body with preservatives and antiseptic fluids in veins, arteries, and body cavities, and grooming and dressing a body for funeral viewings.

A full couch casket is a casket with a one-piece cover that opens completely.

A funeral is a ceremony done to honor someone who has died. While funerals are usually religious events, they don’t have to be. Every funeral is unique.

A funeral cortege or funeral procession can refer to mourners who follow a casket as it is brought in or taken out of the place where the funeral service is held or to a motor convoy of mourners who follow the hearse to the cemetery where burial will take place.

Funeral monuments (markers) are also called gravestones, headstones, or grave markers. They have pertinent details about the deceased person, such as their name, date of birth, date of death, and tributes or epithets. If a gravestone is upright, it is known as a funeral monument.

A funerary recess is a receptacle in a wall that is the casket’s final resting place. Once the casket is placed inside, the receptacle is sealed and covered with a white marble identifying plaque.

Graves are excavations of soil in cemeteries where caskets will be buried as their final resting place. Backhoes are used to dig and cover graves.

Hearses are specially-designed vehicles that are used to carry caskets from funerals to cemeteries.

Plots are a measured piece of land in a cemetery where a person will be buried when they die.

Prearrangements or preplanning refers to making – and possibly paying for – funeral arrangements while a person is still alive.

A viewing or visitation is an event that usually takes place before the funeral service. Mourners have the opportunity pay their respects to the deceased and offer comfort and support to the deceased’s family.

For more guidance regarding funeral home terminology and cremations services in Havana, FL, talk with our knowledgeable and compassionate team at Lifesong Funerals & Cremations.

Flowers and Funerals

There will be flowers at funerals at funeral homes Havana, FL. Even if you request charitable donations in lieu of flowers, there will be some people who will still send flowers or plants to the funeral home or to your home address. Flowers have a historical role in funerals that makes them an intrinsic and traditional part to this day in funerals. You will never attend or be part of a funeral that doesn’t have flowers.

The use of flowers in the old days in funerals was not so much as an expression of emotions or feelings. Instead, funeral flowers had a very practical purpose. Flowers were used to control the not-so-pleasant smell of bodies as they naturally decomposed.

Before embalming became an integrated part of the funeral process and before refrigerated storage was available for funeral homes, bodies decomposed rather rapidly. Flowers were used by funeral home directors to drape around the casket – which is still traditional today – to cover up the smell, which could be rather hard to bear.

One of the most well-known examples of this was the funeral of President Andrew Jackson in 1874. Since President Jackson was not embalmed and several days passed before his funeral was help, the odor from his decomposing body was horrendous. Funeral Director Lazarus C. Shepard closed President Jackson’s casket and heaped fragrant flowers around and on top of the casket to hold the noxious smell in check until President Jackson’s funeral was finished.

However, once embalming was introduced into the funeral process and other preservation techniques improved, there was no longer a practical need for flowers. But by then, flower had come to represent a visible expression of sympathy, care, respect, and love for the deceased and the deceased’s family.

Flowers that are sent to funerals today are meant to express sympathetic sentiment and emotional support for grieving families. Not only are flowers sent to the funeral home, but flowers – or plants – may also be sent to the home of family of the diseased.

While many people are foregoing flowers and asking for donations to different organizations instead, there will still be a group of people who believe that flowers are more personal and can do a better job of expressing their condolences than making a contribution to the requested charity or organization.

Flowers are necessary to establish the atmosphere for the funeral service. Even now, if we attended a funeral service where there were absolutely no flowers, the service would seem cold and impersonal. We might even silently wonder if the deceased had any family or friends who truly loved and cared about them.

Flowers are embedded in the funeral tradition and they will never go away completely. The family of the deceased, even if they are asking for donations instead of flowers, is responsible for purchasing the casket spray. This spray may have flowers in the deceased’s favorite color or the deceased’s favorite flowers.

Different kinds of flowers have very specific meanings for funerals. Lilies, for example, which are ubiquitous in funerals, are symbolic of a return to innocence and purity. Carnations are also a popular funeral flower. Red carnations symbolize respect, while white carnations express remembrance. Roses are the third most common funeral flower selection. White roses symbolize humility and youthfulness, while yellow roses symbolize friendships.

For more ideas about funeral flowers at funeral homes Havana, FL, our sympathetic and experienced staff at Lifesong Funerals & Cremations is available to help.

What Families Pass Down After Death

After cremation services in Quincy, FL, it is common for family members of the deceased to receive things that have been passed down through generations of the family. These are the family’s heirlooms.

After the death of a loved one, surviving family members go through the family heirlooms and distribute them according to the deceased’s stated desires. If their loved one didn’t specify the family heirlooms should be given to, then they should be given to the family members who want them.

Anything can be a family heirloom. It doesn’t have to have any value other than sentiment to be a possession that is passed down through the generations. While some family heirlooms may have monetary value, such as antiques or rare collections, other items may have sentimental value because they have been in the family so long.

And, while some family heirlooms may be quite old, others may be much newer, but they have become family heirlooms because they had so much value in the life of the family whose loved one has died.

However, in many families, there are some common heirlooms that the family keeps and passes on to future generations.

Jewelry is a common family heirloom. This jewelry may consist of a set of pearls, a wedding band set, or a set of cufflinks that has been in the family for a long time. Sometimes, with wedding rings, grandmothers and mothers will designate a specific granddaughter or daughter who should get their wedding rings when they die.

Timepieces are another common family heirloom. It may be a pocket watch that does or doesn’t work or a grandfather clock, but these kinds of timepieces usually get passed on to successive generations in a family.

One of the most surprising heirlooms is furniture. It might have been built by a grandfather or great-grandfather or even further back than that, making it special and valuable. Furniture heirlooms also often include rare pieces of furniture like specially made china cabinets or concert-quality pianos that have been in the family for generations.

Recipes, especially handwritten recipe cards, are also a very common family heirloom. Having a copy of Grandma’s recipe for pecan pie or Mom’s recipe for Southern biscuits is something that each generation will be thankful for. Many families put together recipe books using the recipe cards as a way to pay tribute to their loved one who died.

Bibles and other kinds of books are also common family heirlooms. Some families have Bibles that are very old. It is not uncommon to find more than just family history in these old Bibles, because it was common in earlier times to put letters and newspaper clippings inside the pages of the Good Book. Those can open up a whole new world to the descendants of the original owner of the Bible.

Most American families have members who served in the military. It’s a good bet that some of the items from these family member’s time of military service have been saved and passed down. These heirlooms might include uniforms, dog tags, medals, and boots.

Another type of family heirloom is handmade quilts. Most recent quilts are made with regular cloth and sewing machines. Old handmade quilts, on the other hand, using scraps of cloth from other sewing projects and were stitched by hand. Some of these quilts were made for warmth in the winter, so they contain a thick layer of insulating material between the patches of cloth, making them both beautiful and practical.

For information about cremation services in Quincy, FL, including grief resources, our caring and knowledgeable staff at Lifesong Funerals & Cremations is here to assist you.

Dress for the Part

When you’re attending funerals at funeral homes in Quincy, FL, you should remember that funerals are special occasions to pay respect and honor the memory of someone who has died. Because of that, you should follow some general guidelines about what you should and should not wear to a funeral.

The most important thing you need to know when you are dressing to attend a funeral service is that you do not want to draw attention away from the deceased person or the bereaved family because of what you’re wearing.

Dressing conservatively is always your best option when you are dressing for a funeral service. Even though you aren’t required to wear black (although that is the usual color choice for funeral services) to a funeral, you should dress in darker colors like brown, gray, or navy.

Avoid bright colors and printed fabrics, since they will stand out and draw unnecessary attention to you at the funeral service.

Women should avoid tight-fighting clothing, such as mini-skirts or leggings, and they should also avoid clothing with low-cut necklines or sleeveless dresses. If you do wear a sleeveless dress, cover your arms by wearing a jacket or sweater with it. The best types of clothing for women to wear to funerals includes skirts and blouses, modest dresses, and professional pantsuits.

Women should avoid wearing a lot of accessories to a funeral. A small watch and wedding ring are okay, but you should avoid wearing dangling earrings and a lot of bracelets and necklaces.

Do not wear open-toed shoes or high heels to funerals. Instead, pick out a comfortable pair of flat dress shoes that you can walk easily and noiselessly in.

Unless you are attending a funeral where women wearing hats is customary, you should not wear a hat to a funeral. If hats are acceptable for women to wear, be sure that you wear a small dress hat that fits your head well and that won’t block the view of other mourners.

Men should not wear jeans, t-shirts, shorts, tennis shoes, or sandals to a funeral service. They should also not wear a hat into the service itself. If you do wear a hat, you should remove it as soon as you walk into the funeral home and carry it inside with you. It’s best, however, not to wear a hat at all.

The best attire for men to wear to a funeral service is business casual or business attire. This may include a white dress shirt, black, brown, or gray pants, and a matching sports coat, or a suit and tie. If you do wear a tie, choose one that is isn’t bright or doesn’t have bold designs on it. You should wear comfortable dress shoes as well.

There are, however, are some exceptions to these general guidelines on what you should wear to a funeral service, but the exceptions are very specific.

One exception is if you are attending a military funeral and you are a military member or military veteran. Instead of wearing civilian dress clothing, you may wear your dress uniform to the military service. The same holds for funerals for law enforcement officers and firefighters, where current members of law enforcement or current firefighters may wear their dress uniforms to the funeral service of a fellow officer or firefighter.

The other exception is when the religion or culture of the deceased requires a different type of attire. If you’re unsure what to wear, you should ask a family member what you should wear to their loved one’s funeral.

If you want to know more about the funeral dress at funeral homes in Quincy, FL, our compassionate and experienced staff at Lifesong Funerals & Cremations can help.