Ignoring the Request for "No Funeral"
William G. Hoy Medical Humanities Program Baylor University There is a lot of talk these days about "no funeral." However, it isn't so much because we do not want to have them as it is because we cannot have them in the ways we had become accustomed . That has created a strange paradox in that some folks are realizing now how important this set of ceremonies can be for the grief process. A couple of days ago, I came across an article I wrote eight years ago that I reworked here. This topic still has relevance, I think, because as we "ramp up" our return to the kinds of ceremonies we used to have, we will once again be faced with the choice of how highly to value death-related ceremonies. I hope you will offer your comments, ideas, and rebuttals in the comments section below. You can even remain anonymous if you want. In the midst of people determining in advance that they want "no service" upon their death or telling family members to just...