All of us know that there is a lot of paperwork involved in our daily lives. What many don’t realize is that there is also a LOT of paperwork involved in death. That is why it is important to do whatever we can, while we are living, to ease the burden on our loved ones while we can.
First of all, when we are grieving, we are not in a frame of mind to make important decisions. Few of our ‘survivors’ really know what we would like to have done. This includes not only the possession we might leave behind but also our funeral service. We need to take care of those personal details while we are living; that way there are no questions left to concern our families. Everything has been taken care of and they will be grateful for our consideration.
For the last two weeks I have been neck-deep in paperwork involved in the passing of a friend and neighbor. We knew each other for thirty years, were married nine years, divorced in 2005. We made better friends than mates. His mother was a dear friend of mine fourteen years before I met him. He has two sons who live in other states but they are not concerned with details. Neither knew how to arrange his funeral so I stepped in. I had encouraged the father to take care of these details. He agreed to do so but, of course, never did. An insurance policy for $6,000. lapsed two months before his sudden death.
The older (55) son, who lives in the Midwest, was unable to attend the funeral but the younger (44) caught a ride with my daughter from central Florida. The service was well done, as beautiful as such can be. Since I made the arrangements it is likely that I will pay for the funeral. There is no one else; one son is disabled and the other is trying to be. A younger brother of the deceased is in a Georgia nursing home. His family has a rough time and cannot help.
The father and I sang gospel music, solos and duets, for twenty years, with numerous television guest spots. Our listeners often compared his voice to the late popular singer, Jim Reeves. He had been involved in country/western music in the New Orleans area before we met. We made one CD together, recording ten songs that we had written, five for each of us. After I learn how to make a bit of the music available to any listener, I plan to offer this CD on Facebook; any money will help pay for his funeral. He would have done the same for me, had it been necessary.
Thanks to my foresight, all those details concerning my ‘home-going’ are done already! This experience makes me even more thankful that my family will not be required to be bogged down in paperwork. They might not realize it now, but at that time they will be grateful. I’m a “git-er-done” person and I am glad that I have taken care of the details and have answered any questions they might have.
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