Do you know what they want?

When looking through sites for planning Dad's services, I came across Evergreen Funeral Home in Wisconsin web site. What intrigued me was that they had an advance planning form on their site that was easy to use just as it is or use it as a base for one you come up with to share with your family. Some people never have conversations about their final plans, some only touch on the fact that they do or do not want a funeral, they may want cremation or they could have it all detailed out. We talked about final plans in our family, but once you begin the process, it is amazing how many other things that come up that you didn't think of.

If you look at this form it has some great ideas such as "what I have liked/disliked at other people's services", scriptures that have meaning, what I want people to know about me and more.

I think it is great to have a conversation about these things but to have something in writing accomplishes so much more. For example, there can be no question about what they told one family member and/or their interpretation of it.

I printed one of these out and talked about it with Mom. I gave her a copy and told her when she felt like it to jot stuff down. We talked about how confusing it was planning Dad's cremation and how he had talked about different things at times to different people. We talked about how this will make sure that she gets the last word in what is done for her - and she can have the last word in how she will be remembered when the time comes.