Writing obituaries

Today News published an interesting article entitled Thieves ransack homes of families attending funerals that, at least on one hand, might make you lose faith in humanity a little bit. Thieves have been targeting families who publish their obituaries in the paper with basic information as to where they live. It is really rotten that someone would exploit people at one of the weakest times in their lives.

As part of my position, I help families write obituaries. I'm not going to say that everyone "should" go through a funeral home, but we protect everyone's privacy with due diligence. Even when it comes to something like writing the obituary. I never insert the location of surviving family members. Close friends and family will know where you live. Otherwise, the funeral home is always more than happy to forward on any mail related to the services. It's a small part of what we do for other members of our communities.

Having someone housesit during the funeral is an excellent idea especially if you are traveling out-of-state. Smaller communities might not have to worry about this threat, but I would still consider it. It will allow you to have a little less stress during the grieving process. A lot more goes on with funeral arrangements than most people realize, but having to worry about whether someone is going to try to steal from you while you are attending a service should never be a factor.