In Lieu of Flowers
Terry Henriksen, executive director, NDFDA (North Dakota Funeral Directors
Association)
We have all heard this phrase—in fact, maybe we have even promoted it. After all
hauling flowers from funeral home to church to nursing home and hospital
(especially in the winter) isn’t a lot of fun. A short time ago, a dear friend
and neighbor from my farm days was gravely ill. My mother and I went to see her
the day before she died and on the way out the door my mother said “I think
I’ll give a memorial to hospice.” The following day, we were notified that Ruth
had died. I told mom that we would send flowers because Ruth loved flowers so
much. Her yard was full of flowers and she spent a great deal of time tending
the gardens. My mother started to cry and said yes, we should send flowers but
she didn’t we were supposed to because they are so impractical.
I told mom that we don’t always have to be practical and this is one of those
times. We did order flowers and we did feel good about it. Although there ware
a good number of floral tributes at her funeral, we saw ours and the family
certainly knew it was there. It mad us feel better to give such a personal
gift.
I there a point to this story? I think there is. If we discourage the gift of
flowers for funeral because we consider them impractical, what are we saying?
Are we telling people that funerals should be practical? If we are, perhaps we
could analyze what is practical about a funeral in the first place. Basically,
the only practical part of the funeral is disposing of the body. If the act of
memorializing the deceased should be practical, then it follows that just
disposing of the body in the cheapest, easiest way, would be the thing to do.
We are funeral directors and most of us would be surprised what our client
families expect from us. The expect direction and for the most part are unaware
of what is “appropriate” and what is “customary”. Even those who turn away from
“traditional” appreciate our expertise and knowledge and might benefit from our
experience.
Think positively about what is meaningful and you and to the families you serve.
Funeral service is just what the name implies- service! The more we cut out to
save ourselves time and energy, the less families will come to expect. You know
the rest of the story. Instead of making subtle (or not so subtle) comments
about floral tributes, make a positive statement. Flowers, like music, the
eulogy, the nice casket or urn, the personalized memorial folders and register
book all make the funeral meaningful to the survivors and friends. Think of a
nice way to stress the importance of allowing friends to give of themselves in
a way important to them rather than tell people to skip the flowers and send
memorials.
I feel we need to get back to some basics. The very oldest funerary evidence
shows traces of floral tributes buried with the bodies. It was a kind and
gentle offering then. Perhaps it is just as important today.
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