When choosing cremation, it is important not only to capture the memories and celebrate the spirit of your loved one, but also to provide healing through gathering together, paying tribute and celebrating a life well lived.
Keep in mind that cremation does not limit your ability to spend time with the body of your loved one or hold a meaningful ceremony. You may have a visitation period and a funeral service prior to the cremation. Or your family may spend time privately with the body before cremation, followed by a public ceremony a day or two later with the urn present. You may want to consider keeping your loved one’s body present for the funeral ceremony as it often encourages more expressions of grief and authentic mourning.
Friends and family gather for a tribute prior to cremation, often with the decedent present, which activates support and allows family and friends to say goodbye.
This gathering of friends and family following cremation often features the memorial urn as the ceremony’s centerpiece and allows family and friends to recall memories and support one another.
A small gathering and informal family farewell takes place in a private setting and offers the chance to say goodbye, allowing family and friends to recall memories and support one another.
Services often include the use of music, symbols, words and actions that reflect the life of the loved one and activate support among family and friends. Whether simple or elaborate, traditional, contemporary or religious, choose elements that best reflect the passion and life story of the one whom you are honoring.
A direct cremation is when there is no funeral service or memorial service, but instead simply final disposition of the body by the funeral home or memorial society.
Cremation is another form of disposition or handling a body after death. However, many people don’t know what happens during cremation.
Cremation takes place in a carefully maintained facility known as a crematory or crematorium. Superstition Cremation and Funeral Services has its own crematory on site, but many funeral homes do not.
Within the crematory is a special cremation chamber. The body is placed in a cremation container or casket and positioned inside the cremation chamber. Once the container or casket is in the cremation chamber, the door is tightly sealed. The operator then turns on gas jets, which create intense heat that reduces the body to bone fragments. This process takes approximately 2-3 hours.
After the cremation, the remains are collected and processed to the consistency of sand or a finer ash. The white or grayish remains, often called cremated remains at this stage, are then sealed in a transparent plastic bag along with an identification tag. The bag weighs about 5 pounds and will often be returned to the family in a selected urn, which can then be buried, placed in a niche inside a columbarium, taken home or transported for scattering. Additionally, the cremated remains can be separated and placed into multiple urns, keepsakes or even jewelry specifically designed as a final resting place.
Cremation is a respectful, dignified process chosen by many families. However, some faiths discourage or prohibit cremation. If you plan to hold a religious funeral ceremony or have the remains buried in a church cemetery, check in advance to make sure there are no issues.
When it comes to Superstition Cremation and Funeral Services, not all companies are created equal. Often, a business or society that provides cremations does not actually own crematory equipment. Such businesses are known as storefront crematories. One reason a self-owned crematorium is preferable is price – storefront crematories must send out the body, pay a crematorium, and charge enough money to make their own profit – costs that get passed on to the customer. Most often in these cases, the body is sent to a large funeral home or a cremation society, organizations with high overhead and large volume. This is both a costly and unsettling scenario for the customer – they have no way to guarantee how their loved one is treated, or even that the ashes that come back belong to the right person. At an in-house crematorium like Superstition Cremation and Funeral Services, customers get to meet and talk with the people who do the cremation. You have the comfort of knowing that your loved one never leaves the premises, and that everything will be handled properly and ethically. For Superstition Cremation and Funeral Services, it’s important to use a cremation company that has their own crematorium. Not only will it give you peace of mind, it will save you money.
If you are considering direct cremation, I plead with you to reconsider. Honoring the life and death of the person who died with some sort of ceremony—no matter how brief, how small or how informal—will help your family acknowledge the reality of the death and begin to heal. When no ceremony is held, it is as if the life and death of the person who died had no significance to anyone. Also keep in mind that you may still hold a committal service at the gravesite or crematory should you choose direct cremation.
Think carefully about the many options available to you and your family. Slow down and plan. It is through planning that a meaningful experience of a funeral ceremony is created. And do remember that funeral directors, clergy, celebrants and close friends who have done these things before can all be valuable resources to you. You are not alone!