I don’t know if this ever happens to you, but every so often I seem to get hit from all sides with a certain subject matter.  It’s usually something that I have not thought of for awhile but then, all of a sudden, seem to have the subject come up over and over in a short period of time.

 

In the last couple of weeks it’s been that way for me on the subject of bereavement, and more specifically, how we as funeral directors help those with loss move through bereavement.

 

It started for me with All Saint’s Day on November 1.  That’s a day in the Chrisitian church where we celebrate those who have died before us.  At my church sanctuary we have candles and members are encouraged to light the candles in honor and in remembrance of those loved ones we have lost through death.

 

Then on Wednesday of that week my Men’s Bible study, that follows the topics of Sunday services, studied the Biblical book of Ruth and its lessons of loss, determination, and hope following loss.  It’s a short story of loss, bereavement, hope, and redemption that’s good for the soul.

 

Finally, I learned from a mass email from my friend, John Adams, former President of the National Association of Funeral Directors in Great Britain, that his “Parliamentary petition for all school age children to be taught about death, dying and bereavement in schools” in Great Britain will be further debated by Parliament on Monday, December 2.

 

I met John Adams and another funeral director from the U.K., Adam Ginder, at the NFDA Convention in Baltimore two years ago.  John told me at that time of his story and his desire to have children learn more about death, dying, and bereavement.  As John is quoted in this opinion article from Child Bereavement UK promoting Bereavement Education in schools,  “For a child, their immediate family is their life; I feel passionately that we need to involve children in funerals and the grieving process. We may want to protect children from sadness and loss but we cannot avoid it – it’s part of living.”

 

I once again had the opportunity to see Adam Ginder at the NFDA Convention in New Orleans less than a month ago.  I asked about John and Adam let me know that John was continuing his quest to have bereavement education to be taught in the equivilent of our elementary schools. . . . I was then later excited to see that Parliament is moving forward with the possibility of that happening.

 

I’ve also became aware of the Good Grief Trust from the United Kingdom.  It is an organization that “is run by the bereaved for the bereaved”.  John Adams serves as one of their ambassadors.

 

Related Article — John Adams meets King Charles and tells him of his campaign for bereavement awareness.

 

Funeral Director Daily take:  It’s interesting that a country will take a day of their lawmakers’ time to debate the issue of teaching the essence of bereavement and loss to its young people.  I’m guessing that there are a lot of other issues that many citizens would prefer to be discussed and it’s a testament to John Adams and his advocacy for this important debate getting to this point.

 

As I mentioned in my opening paragraph, sometimes you just get broadsided by one issue.  However, when that happens it does make one wonder about the subject  — in this case, bereavement and how funeral directors help clientele move forward from grief.

 

It has also made me think that, yes, owning or operating a funeral home is business.  However, it should not be taken lightly that how we help clientele in their journey to acceptance and moving forward from loss might make a big difference on how we are seen as “the funeral home of choice” to consumers.

 

Sometimes it just takes being hit from all sides with an issue to help one remember why that issue is so important and give us pause to ask ourselves how we are helping our clientele with that area of our business.

 

It is certainly important to make sure that we have positive cash-flow from our business activities but it may be even more important to make sure that our services are helping our survivor clientele move forward into a future with hope.

 

More news from the world of Death Care:

• Green Cemetery planned for Hopewell Township.  Mercer Me  (NJ)
• The Mystery of Three Hundred Bodies in the Woods.  The New Yorker
• 5 Things you should know about living near a cemetery.  House Beautiful
• The World’s most famous and spectacular cemeteries.  Mapfre (Spain)
• Europe Funeral Home and Service Market (Data Report sales material)  Grand View Research
• Managing remains after death might be more complicated than you think.  Globe and Mail (Canada)

 

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“A servant’s attitude guided by Christ leads to a significant life”