A Sacred Moment: How is a Home Funeral Different?

How is a Home Funeral Different?

Experiencing a death in your family is not only a sad and stressful time but suddenly you are faced with a myriad of details that need attending to questions that perhaps you hadn't considered before. Things like obituaries, caskets, burial or cremation, death certificates the list can be daunting.

Unfortunately, when faced with these decisions, it can just seem easier to leave the arrangements for someone else to handle. Although this approach may seem easier it is often far less fulfilling and healing. Participation is the true difference between a Home Funeral and a more conventional funeral.

A Home Funeral invites participation. Participation in a Home Funeral where the body is lovingly bathed, dressed and draped to lay in honor at home for a period of a few hours to a few days allows for a final expression of love. This participation also seems to slow down time and allow families to create spontaneous and organic tributes and rituals as they honor their loved one. The sacred opportunity to care for your loved one during this all too brief moment helps family and friends journey through their grief in a very real and profound way.

A Home Funeral gives you more opportunity to say goodbye. What hospice has done for terminal illness, Home Funerals have done for death taking the fear and mystery away from the process and letting the family participate fully in a very natural cycle of life. Unfortunately, our current culture has long sought out refuge from and denial of this very natural cycle of life by turning over this deeply intimate and sacred moment in time to professionals in the funeral industry. It is all too common to have the body quickly whisked from the home to then have the family become observers who watch from a distance. It is often an unfulfilling finale to a poignant and beautiful life.

A Sacred Moment's mission is to guide families through all the phases of this life altering event by being present to help with arrangements prior to your loved one's death, assisting in a Home Funeral or other funeral arrangements that the family desires, and then supporting families that chose to honor their loved one through a Life Celebration service. Not all families will desire or need assistance with all aspects of making final arrangements for their loved one, which is why A Sacred Moment will be there only as the family desires. It is our firmly held belief that families and friends need to be empowered at this sacred time.