There are literally thousands of options that can be considered when determining how best to make final arrangements. Unfortunately most people wait until an emergency and then consider those options in haste while under emotional pressure.
For example, you may prefer to be cremated. This opens a great many options: cremated remains may be buried in traditional burial sites or special cremation gardens, inurned in indoor or outdoor niches, scattered, taken home, or divided for memorialization in a combination of these. It is unkind to ask survivors to make such decisions on the worse day of their lives.
It is much better to take the time to plan ahead. You can do this easily. First, take a mental inventory of previous family arrangements. What did you agree with, what might be changed? Next, what would you yourself prefer? Remember, however, that the main purpose of a funeral is to help the survivors deal with bereavement. You may think you are saving your family pain by insisting on immediate cremation with no service, but in fact you may produce the opposite result.
Next, contact the cemetery and funeral home of your choice. If it is a firm your family has used before, they will be glad to provide you with information from their records about your family's traditions. Check that what you want to have done is reasonable under current rules and regulations.
Write down all of the information you have gathered and give a copy of your wishes to the chosen cemetery and funeral home. That way you can be assured that they are readily available to your survivors.
