Death Planning and Arrangements

The two most important dates on the life of the deceased are written on his tombstone. But what’s more important is the dash between them. It is that period in time when the dead was once a living being; a breathing life among men. On between these dates, from birth to death, he was one of us. The question is, how well did he live his life then? How do people know him? How was he to his family, relatives, friends and acquaintances? How would everyone else describe him?

Life is but a fleeting moment to anyone who lives it fully. If we take a closer look on the life lived by the most successful men, their common denominator is that of being prepared in just about everything. Planning is the way to go if we want to be somewhere desirable. Otherwise, we’ll get to some place but not where we want to be. Same is true when planning for our own funeral.

It is a fact that we don’t get to choose how we die (except of course if successfully we commit suicide). But it is our choice now if we want to actively be involved on planning our own memorial services. We may not be there when it happens but at least we’ve taken our part on showing our bereaved family how we’d want to go about it. And most often than not, our wishes are granted (they should be or else they’ll get an angry soul hanging around!).

Start with the memorial card invitations. Depending on how you want the atmosphere to be during the service, make your card look like it (pastel colors if you want it to be cheerful, white for solemnity and dark colors if you want it melancholy). Avoid too many unnecessary decorations. Your picture on it is important too. Choose that which most complements your theme. Avoid the too-much-edited-picture (it may not look like you at all).

If you’re not sure how to do it, there are templates available online. Celebrations of Life Store, for example gives you a wide variety of themes, cards and programs for your memorial service. As for eulogies, choose those closest to you from each group (family, high school friends, college friends, work mates, etc.). But don’t inform them just yet (you’ll sound weird and all). Use the same advice on card invitations when choosing a compiled music to be played during the service. After you’ve done this, sit back and see on a bird’s eye view how well you’ve planned it all. Then get out and live that life to the fullest!