Tragic death has me wondering? Funeral planning?

Question

Last night my cousin’s b/f was killed in a car accident. He was 25. Today, his family and my cousin are making arrangements. They have no clue as to what he wanted. Cremated or buried.
Songs or not.

I remember as early as 10, telling my parents that if I died before they did that I want to be an organ donor and to be cremated.

Just got me thinking, how early is too early to plan for your funeral? 18? 16? 10? 8?

Just your opinions?

Thank you!

Answer 1

So very sorry about your loss. I do not think it is ever too early to plan for death and dying. Whether parents are putting insurance on their children is something they would have to choose. But in regard to planning our own death, I do believe that an 8 year old may not understand the many arrangements for their body & wishes. However, if they do understand more & voice a request, I believe it should be honored. Anytime a child is talking about dying, I do think it should be taken seriously and not in a manner of "oh you are too young to die". Many years ago I had a 16 year old cousin tell me how she wanted to be cremated when she died and I said "ohhh that'll never happen silly". And she said we can all die anytime and about a month later, she had a very weird accident in her front yard, hit her head on the pavement and died instantly. I learned that it does happen real fast sometimes.

Death is a subject that doesn't make people comfortable to talk about... and in my experience my parents always tended to talk about after they die. They have never asked what I would wish for given that I die before they do. Once a person has a drivers license I believe they can choose whether they wish to be an organ donor. Once a person has a bank account, it can be useful to draw up a will because the bank account will freeze as soon as a person dies. And I think that if parents can't handle the topic then confiding in a friend or sibling or someone who can handle it would be a good thing to do if someone is concerned about how their own funeral & wishes are planned after death.

Answer 2

Since death is a fact of life at any age, it makes sense to plan for it, we plan for everything else, but so many people are afraid to talk about it.
Write down your wishes now, and make sure someone close to you knows where to find them. At my church, our funeral wishes are kept in a file, if we choose to go that route. I am single and live kinda far from my family, so the church secretary, who is a good friend knows which mortuary I want, that i want to donate my organs and would prefer a service to sprinkle me and a picnic after.If they want to have a service, I have a list of songs that I love.
My mom and dad took it a step further. They each put money in savings to cover their funerals. They took the time to write their obituaries, and since dad was cremated and mom will be too, there was no need for pall bearers, but if you are going to have have a casket, you need to think of six or so healthy people to carry it.
If money is a concern, visit a funeral home and ask for a price list. Combing a dead guy's hair is about $25!!!!! If you go for cremation, you don't have to be embalmed and that will save a fortune, no trip to the mortuary, no washing and dressing the body, no casket, no vault.
Thought: WHY do people spend as much as they would for a good used car for a casket? Even if it is guaranteed not to leak for 100 years, WHO is going to know if it does? Mrs. Billy Graham chose to be buried in a simple pine box, and many people are choosing to "go green" with biodegradable coffins of wood and biodegradable head stones.
Headstones, that is another thing, my dad's was hand carved by my brother and placed where he was sprinkled out in a pasture, on the original family homestead.
My mom wants her granddaughter, a pilot, to sprinkle her over her family's homestead. She does not want a tombstone, she says her monument to be remembered by is her family.
If you want a tombstone, keep in mind it will be another $2000-$3000. We told my mom, if you are going to by dad a tombstone, you better be wearing it on your finger.....she got "dad" a beautiful stone---a 2 carat marquise diamond ring.
The best place for all this is in your file at your church. The pastor will then know what scriptures you want to comfort your family, what songs, how the flowers should be dispersed and a dozen other things.
One more thing, parents should discuss long before they have children how their child will be raised AND how they may have to be buried. If one wants to donate organs and the other doesn't it needs to be resolved BEFORE a tragedy happens. One should always consider get a life insurance policy on an unborn child, at least enough to cover the cost of a funeral. It is not a happy thing to think about, but it is better to plan ahead than try to do it while grieving.
Our family has discussed it and rediscussed it. It is actually kind of fun and we know exactly what everyone wants.
Death is nothing more but God's next big adventure, you should be prepared to enjoy it!

Answer 3

I don't think it's ever too early to make your feelings known about what you would like to do for funeral arrangements. It is a difficult subject to approach and most people don't like to think about funeral arrangements, but it's always appropriate to write down your wishes and give them to whomever you would like to be responsible for your final arrangements.

Young people under the age of 18 cannot make the final decision regarding such things but they certainly can make their feelings known, especially in the case of organ donor programs.

Answer 4

Write down your wishes now, and make sure someone close to you knows where to find them. At my church, our funeral wishes are kept in a file,Funeral planning is the process of creating your end-of-life plan with your final wishes,I have seen their plans

Answer 5

It depends on the circumstance. A child with a fatal disease should be planned for early.

But a healthy child should plan starting at college age as well as buying insureance.

Answer 6

Yes it's to weird to talk about, but when your number is up,.... you have a vet good point about making plans we make plans for everything else, why not this?? I'm sorry about your cousin.

Answer 7

that's under no circumstances too early, extremely, yet for sure a lot of human beings do no longer make any preparations because of the fact it under no circumstances enters their techniques they're going to die. My husband died very youthful, and he had under no circumstances suggested something to me or every person else approximately preparations for a funeral. Why might he? A wholesome youthful guy ... with the help of the time he knew he develop into going to die, he had different issues on his techniques. All you're able to do is your suitable to objective and bear in techniques the flaws the guy enjoyed for the period of their life, the songs that have been specific, the stories that have been shared ... whilst the guy s youthful and die from something as random and pointless as a automobile twist of destiny, i'm specific that's even harder. My very truthful condolences to you and your loved ones today.

Answer 8

I don't think it's ever too early....life and death is so unpredictable you just never know.