How to Honor a Loved One After Cremation
More and more families are choosing cremation for their loved ones and planning to be cremated themselves. Cremation can often be a simpler, more affordable, or more flexible option for families. However, many people don’t realize how many options they have for honoring their loved ones after a cremation.
For example, people wonder if you can
still have a funeral if someone is cremated, or what to do with cremated remains. They may be surprised to know how many options are available, and how much they can be customized. Below, we explore some of the many ways your loved one’s memory can be celebrated after cremation.
Personalized Memorial and Remembrance Options
When someone dies, certain steps are both common and necessary in order to heal from grief. The reality of the loss must be confronted and accepted. Loved ones should gather to lean on one another for support. And the departed’s life should be remembered, honored, and celebrated in a way that reflects who they were and how their life touched others.
There are many ways to accomplish these steps after a cremation. Here are just a few services that Horan & McConaty can help you arrange:
Funeral Service
We can help you plan a traditional or religious funeral, or a custom memorial service incorporating any personal touches you like. During the service, you can choose to have the urn (or body prior to cremation) present. A memorial, wake, or celebration of life can also be held in a private home or gathering place of your choice. Your funeral director will answer any questions you have and walk you through the entire process.
Online Tribute
An online obituary posted on our website is included in our basic service and it's completely up to you what you want it to say. Visitors to the website can leave messages and condolences on your loved one’s tribute wall and it will remain online indefinitely, allowing you to return to it at any time.
Burial or Scattering
Cremation allows for flexibility in how, when, and where your loved one’s remains are laid to rest. Ashes can be placed in an urn and buried in a cemetery plot, urn garden, mausoleum, or columbarium, such as in Denver’s Cremation Gardens. Or the cremated remains can be scattered.
One of the families we serve recently traveled back to their private land to scatter their mother. Each family member held some ashes in a small cup accompanied by a rose. They each said a few words, shared special memories, then scattered the ashes on their open space.
You might choose your own property, public land, or another meaningful location. Just be sure to obtain permission from the proper authorities before holding your scattering service.
Keeping an Urn
Many families choose to keep the urn after the funeral or memorial service and place it in their home or somewhere that was special to their loved one, or they divide the ashes into separate urns for multiple members of the family to keep.
Jewerly or Keepsakes
Many individuals choose to keep their loved one close by. Smaller urns, jewelry that holds ashes, or fingerprint jewelry are some options we offer. Your funeral director can help walk you through your options if this is something you would be interested in.
Think Outside the Urn
There are many other options for memorializing a loved one after cremation, such as having ashes turned into a seed starter for trees, traditional or glass art, memorial fireworks, or ashes can even be mixed in with tattoo ink, to name a few. These kinds of ideas are significant and memorable when they align with your loved one’s personality, interests, and hobbies—reflections of their time spent on earth.
There are also ways to honor your loved one before or during cremation:
Witness Cremation
Also known as a “cremation viewing.” It’s not everyone’s preference, but some families prefer to be present at the time of cremation. The family is guided to a separate, comfortable room where they can view the casket being placed into the cremation chamber. The many families we’ve served who choose this option often remark that it helped with closure and healing in their grief.
Knowing When the Cremation Takes Place
Your funeral director will let you know when the cremation takes place if you wish. We recently had a family who wanted to know the date and time of their loved one’s cremation so they could take a shot of tequila for their daughter who had passed—her favorite drink.
Viewing
Many families find it beneficial to sit with a loved one’s body for a final goodbye. A viewing can happen before the cremation, or we can schedule a time to bring your loved one’s body to your home overnight for a wake or other service before returning to pick them up for cremation. Let us know your preference and we will make those arrangements.
There are endless possibilities when it comes to honoring and celebrating your loved one after cremation. Our staff at Horan & McConaty is always here to guide you and help you make the decisions you’ll feel most comfortable with. Call any of our
seven Denver funeral home locations at
(303) 745-4418 to get started.
