Mourning rituals are symbolic activities that help ease the pain of loss and the heavyweight of grief. Mourning is an important part of grief after a veteran’s service at a funeral home in Clarksville, TN, and you should look into forming rituals of your own.

Mourning rituals help those in grief connect with others over the loss and find support in one another. They are traditionally based on religion, like the catholic funeral service or the Jewish shiva. However, as classic religion is on a decline, many people are looking to other places for their mourning rituals. Are you looking for inspiration for a ritual of your own?

You can try burning sage. Sage burning is another very traditional ritual. Sage has long been associated with cleansing and can therefore help you feel like you’ve aided the deceased in their passing or can assist in cleansing away negative emotions. You could also carry a remembrance item. You can carry an item that belonged to or reminds you of the deceased and help you remember that they are always with you. Remembrance items can be anything, such as a watch, handkerchief, lighter, or piece of jewelry.

Food brings people together, especially in hard times. Cooking the deceased’s favorite meal and then sharing it with others allows you to honor their memory and connect with those that are also grieving the loss. What about lighting a candle? Candles have a long history of being associated with both rituals and grief. Take this tradition and make it your own by lighting a candle for the deceased at a certain time of day, a special date, or whenever you need to feel connected to them.

Some ancient cultures would host a “giveaway” in which they would each take a piece of the deceased’s possessions to use as their own. You can do a modern version of this in which you go through and donate the deceased’s possessions to other grieving people. There are often many things left unsaid when someone dies. A healthy way to say those unsaid things is to write a letter to the deceased. You can bury the letter with your loved one, burn it to release the feelings, or hold onto it for later remembrance.

Coloring a picture, painting, or sculpting is a wonderful way to release feelings of grief and loss. Create in the deceased’s memory in whatever medium feels comfortable to you. Though altars are traditionally more Eastern, they have recently become more and more popular in Western cultures. An altar for your lost loved one can be anything from a collection of meaningful items to an array of photos, candled and incense.

These are simple yet powerful mourning rituals you can use after a loved one’s death and veteran’s service. Do you want more information on mourning rituals or Clarksville, TN funeral home services? Sykes Funeral Home & Crematory is here to help in any way that we can. You can stop by and visit us or give us a call today for more information on what we can do for you.

You will most likely need to choose some kind of burial marker, whether you’re preplanning for your own eventual passing or dealing with a loved one’s recent death and service at a funeral home in Clarksville, TN. This is especially true if they were military service members.

A burial marker, like the name denotes, is what marks a burial site. However, they mean usually mean much more than that as burial markers are also what will symbolize the deceased for the rest of time. Of course, you will always have the memories of a lost loved one, but their burial marker will be what you go to visit or show future generations, and what other people will see.

When most people think of burial markers they just think of gravestones. But there are actually lots of different kinds of burial markers, including:

• Mausoleums – Mausoleums are free-standing, above-ground structures that provide a secure, dry and clean place for bodies to be interred. They also come in many different shapes and sizes, with some being small for just one body and others being massive to house multiple generations of the same family.
• Upright Cemetery Monuments – More commonly referred to as gravestones, upright cemetery monuments are what you will most commonly see in cemeteries and graveyards around the world. These upright markers are easy to see, making it simple to find a certain marker in a full cemetery or field. You can easily customize a gravestone into almost any shape, size, color or material from classic stone headstones to white crosses, marble angels and more. You can also customize what the gravestone says, with most people choosing to put their loved one’s name, dates of birth and death, and a short message.
• Flush and Flat Markers – Flush and flat grave markers are inserted into the ground above a gravesite. They are usually very simple and subtle to match their streamlined, in-ground design. But there are some kinds of more elaborate flush and flat markers, like those with vase attachments that allow the bereaved to leave flowers and other tokens on the grave.
• Benches – Bench memorials are just what they sound like: benches that either mark a grave or are a memorial for a deceased person. Though they are more unconventional and can be expensive, they create peaceful spaces that allow the bereaved to sit and reflect on the life of their lost loved one. Some people choose to decorate their loved one’s memorial bench with quotes, etchings, and the name of the deceased. There are even some benches that house cremated remains.

As you consider which one you might choose for your lost loved one, just remember that there really is no wrong choice if you choose from the heart. Think about what your loved one would have wanted and what would best symbolize him or her, but don’t over-complicate it or get stressed.

These are just a few of the many options for marking a final resting place.

is a Clarksville, TN funeral home and we offer a range of services and can help you choose the best grave marker for your lost military servicemember. Call or visit us today.

While a traditional ground burial after a service in a funeral home in Clarksville, TN is always a valid choice, there are many other options for a deceased’s final resting place, like mausoleums.

According to the National Funeral Directors Association, a mausoleum is “a building designed for above-ground placement of a casket. The casket is placed into a crypt that may be designed for one or two persons.” Mausoleums are free-standing structures that provide a secure, dry, and clean place for bodies to be interred. There are many different kinds and styles of mausoleums. Some mausoleums have one crypt, or a chamber designed to hold one body, while others have a larger space made to hold a few people like a family or a couple. Some mausoleums even have more than one room for different parts of a family.

Mausoleums are commonly decorated with exterior markers to denote who is resting inside, and yet others have windows and glass to allow in natural light and air. The term mausoleum came from one of the first ones ever built. Built-in 353 BC near what is now known as Turkey, The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus was the final resting place of a famous Persian king named Mausolus. However, just because these structures have a long history doesn’t mean they aren’t still popular.

In fact, mausoleums offer tons of great benefits, making them a common choice for internment. Some of the benefits of mausoleums include protection and privacy. Though everyone will experience grief, most people prefer to show their mourning in private. Because mausoleums are enclosed buildings, they offer the bereaved much-desired privacy in their time of loss.

Similarly, because they are enclosed buildings, mausoleums also offer protection for the body. Many of them are also climate-controlled, which gives the bereaved even more peace of mind for the body and comfort when they are paying their respects. Mausoleums have been proven to have comparable costs to those of more traditional ground burial, especially if the structure will be used to house more than one body. Families can lower the costs of burial by purchasing a shared mausoleum.

And finally, both traditional ground burial and cremation have negative impacts on the environment, such as ground disruption or release of gasses into the atmosphere. Since mausoleums can hold more bodies per square foot of ground than a traditional burial, they are better for the planet and are a great option for those that want to leave a small footprint behind when they’re gone. Mausoleums are also convenient. Mausoleums are convenient for the bereaved as they offer easy access to the lost loved one for year-round visitation. Hot summers, cold winters, rain, and other elements aren’t an issue.

Sykes Funeral Home & Crematory can help you decide if a mausoleum is a right choice for you or your family. We have vast experience as a Clarksville, TN funeral home and can offer you more information on your different internment choices. Call or visit Sykes Funeral Home & Crematory today!

There are a lot of financial and legal steps you need to take when someone you love passes away and has a service at a funeral home in Clarksville, TN, but you can’t forget about their social media and other online accounts.

Use these tips to take care of common online accounts after a death, like Google, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Thankfully, Google accounts are fairly easy to deal with. If the deceased had any kind or any number of Google accounts, from Google Docs, Google Drive, Google Calendar to Google Photos, Gmail or even YouTube, they had a Google ID. Google has a program called Inactive Account Manager in which someone can preset all data and accounts linked to their Google ID to be wiped after a certain period of inactivity. If the deceased used that program, your work is done. If they didn’t, simply file a request to Google, submit documents proving your relationship to the deceased, and the company will close down the Google ID.

Twitter will work with a verified immediate family member or an executor of an estate to deactivate a deceased’s account. You must submit a request for a deactivation and removal online, upon which you will be sent an email with instructions for providing proper documentation of your relationship to the deceased and the death. Facebook has set up two different methods to handle a deceased’s account: Deletion and Memorialization. If you wish to delete their Facebook page, you have to submit a request to Facebook, provide documentation proving they are deceased and your relationship to them, and wait the 90-day period. Facebook also offers a Memorialization option, which turns the deceased’s page into an online memorial that keeps the original content and allows others to post memories, comments, and photos.

Instagram is similar to Facebook in that it allows the bereaved to delete or memorialize an account. Only immediate family members can file a request to delete an Instagram account, and they are required to submit proof of relationship and proof of death, such as a death certificate. Instagram accounts can be memorialized once the company gets a valid request backed up by death documentation and proof of relationship. A memorialized Instagram account can’t be changed at all, and the posts will only be visible to the audience with which they were first shared. In other words, you can’t make a memorialized account public if it was originally private.

Our digital footprints will only get bigger the longer our society spends online. You can also make it easier for your family after you’re gone by taking steps now to organize your accounts. If you want to make things easier on your family and loved ones after your death, start making a list of all your accounts, usernames, and passwords now so they have easy access to your information.

You can’t just leave a deceased’s social media or otherwise online life behind. Sykes Funeral Home & Crematory is here to help if you want to learn more about dealing with death or Clarksville, TN funeral homes. Call or visit us today.

Traditions surrounding death, grieving, and funeral homes in Clarksville, TN are changing. This change is good as it allows for ultimate personalization for celebrating the life of the deceased, especially if the deceased served in the military or armed forces. These days, there are almost no rules when it comes to planning a memorial or military funeral service. This lack of guidelines, while good for personalization, can make planning tough.

Where do you start? Begin with the location. The traditional funeral home or church isn’t necessarily the only choice for a memorial anymore. You can also choose to have a service in a park, on a beach, at a home, in a museum, or almost any other place that holds significance to you, the deceased, and the rest of the bereaved.

You can also personalize parts, if not all, of a lost loved one’s memorial. You can really have fun with this part of the planning. Readings, poems, prayers and even music can be easily combined with a service, as can any other aspect of the deceased’s life and personality. For example, if the deceased loved jazz music, you can hire a jazz band to play at the reception or play jazz music during the service. Don’t forget to also include personal memorabilia like photos, videos, and beloved objects.

Another new trend is asking for people to send donations “in lieu of flowers”. You can ask guests to make contributions to a cause the deceased believed in as a good way to carry on his or her memory. Flowers are a traditional part of memorials and funerals, and probably aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. They can transform any room into a comforting and welcoming space perfect for grieving a loss and celebrating life. Consider getting personalized floral displays or arrangements for even more flair. There is a new tradition of giving small gifts, like party favors, to memorial guests. These gifts are a nice way to help them keep the deceased in their minds and hearts long after the service is over. Feel free to get creative, like making recipe cards with the deceased’s favorite dishes.

Also think about the master of ceremonies. Sometimes families don’t want a religious service led by a pastor or clergy member. In these cases, they may want to hire a celebrant. Celebrants have licensed masters of ceremonies that work with the bereaved to customize memorial services in fresh and unique ways. Most funeral homes and cremation providers can offer lists of recommended local celebrants. What about the final disposition? Burials used to be the default, but not anymore. There are tons of options these days from cremation services and body donation to entombment and more.

Planning a funeral or memorial service is very personal, so these ideas are just to get you started. Sykes Funeral Home & Crematory is here to help if you want more ideas or help planning a funeral or military service at a Clarksville, TN funeral home.

You might have heard the phrases, “at-need services” and “pre-need services” when discussing funeral homes in Clarksville, TN and military services. However, there is a good chance that, like many others, you don’t know what they mean. Keep reading to find out for sure once and for all.

Both “at-need” and “pre-need” describe when services are offered. At-need funeral or cremation services are offered to families “at the time of need.” In other words, at-need services are for after a death has already occurred. Pre-need funeral or cremation services are offered to individuals who are planning ahead or are making funeral or cremation planning decisions prior to their passing.

Pre-need services are selected by an individual before their time of death. Sometimes people choose to preplan far in advance when they are making plans for their will or estate, but in other cases people can preplan closer to their time of death. At-need funeral services are used in two situations: in the event of a sudden, unexpected death or when a family or individual has decided to wait until the time of death to make funeral plans.

In both situations the deceased and the bereaved have not made plans in advance of the death. At-need services are also not selected by the deceased, but instead by the surviving next of kin or family members of the deceased. While both at-needs and pre-needs cremation services can have benefits and negatives, and sometimes at-needs services are unavoidable if the death was unexpected, many argue that pre-needs services are much better.

There are many reasons why pre-need planning is good, such as helping you uphold your self-reliance. Taking charge of your funeral or memorial service allows you to maintain control and independence when you might otherwise lose them. This is good for your mental health at the end of your life and gives you more self-reliance. Funeral and memorial services are an important part of the grieving process, but your loved ones might miss out on the important benefits if they are too busy planning the event. Preplan so they don’t have to.

Make sure you get the exact funeral or cremation you want by taking care of the details and clearly laying them out for your friends and family. This way they won’t be able to argue or disagree. You can also plan for how to cover the funeral or cremation costs in advance to make it easier for your family’s bank accounts and stress levels. Look into cremation insurance or funeral trusts to help ensure financial ease

Finally, lessening your family’s load. Let your family know exactly what you want for your cremation so they don’t have to guess what to do after you’re gone, or spend time making painful decisions when they should be grieving with loved ones.

Sykes Funeral Home & Crematory is here to help if you want to learn more about Clarksville, TN funeral homes or at-need and pre-need planning when it comes to military services. Please stop by and visit us or give us a call today.

If you’re a millennial or in a similar young age group, you probably haven’t and don’t want to think about funeral planning. We don’t blame you – even people that aren’t as young as you don’t want to think about their passing. But you need to spend time thinking about what you want for a funeral home in Clarksville, TN as preplanning is very important. So, what do you do? How do you get started?

These tips can help:

• Save Some Money – Millennials are also looking to save money on funeral expenses, like caskets. Yes, some caskets are expensive. But there are tons of other options that are much more budget friendly. Your funeral director can advise you on the best one to choose for your needs and budget.
• Choose a Funeral Home– The very first step is to choose a funeral home, as someone will need to prepare your remains for disposition, handle your service, and even be a place to hold your service. Do some research on local funeral homes to learn about their prices, services, beliefs, and offerings. This way you can find one that has what you need and want.
• Doesn’t Have to be Religious – Younger generations are also moving away from funeral and memorial services, as many people think that funerals and memorials are strictly religious events. While funerals can certainly be religious, they don’t have to be. You can choose to have a non-traditional memorial service that isn’t religious or hire a funeral celebrant to lead a non-religious funeral. Your funeral service can be anything you want it to. Do you love golf? You can have a celebrant focus on your golf game. Are you a huge flower lover? Cover your funeral in flowers.
• Check Prices – In addition to using Google, Yelp and other websites to help you find a good funeral home you can also check the funeral home’s actual website to get a good idea of pricing. Funeral homes are required by law to provide clear and accurate prices for all of their services so you can get a good idea of what’s available and how much it will cost before you event step foot into a funeral home.
• What About Disposition? – More and more people, especially younger generations, are choosing cremation over burial as, to them, burial is a waste of space, money and time. In fact, the National Funeral Directors Association reports that more than half of the dispositions in the USA these days are cremations. But what do you want? Do you want to be buried? Cremated? You can still have a traditional funeral service if you want to be cremated, or you can have a non-traditional memorial service even if you want to be buried. It’s totally up to you! Your funeral director can help you determine what you want done with your remains before, at, and after the service.

Sykes Funeral Home & Crematory is here to help if you want to learn more. As a Clarksville, TN funeral home, we can offer a lot of information on preplanning and our services. After all, planning your funeral doesn’t have to be stressful or painful with these tips.

It can be hard to know what to say to someone that is going through the loss of a loved one or the loss of a military service member, especially when trying to craft a sentiment that both acknowledges the loss and provides comfort to the bereaved. But, as many people want to reach out with condolences for friends, coworkers, or family members after hearing the news about them losing someone they love or after attending a funeral service at a funeral home in Clarksville, TN, condolence calls and sympathy cards are very important.

You can try sending a sympathy card in the mail. Sympathy cards are the most traditional method of communicating these sentiments to the bereaved in their time of grief, but it can be tricky to accurately convey feelings and ideas. You can try to offer help. Offering help to the bereaved is always well-intentioned, especially since it can be hard for people to ask for help when they need it. To make it easier for the bereaved to get the help that is specific for their needs, try not to write statements like, “Call me if you need anything.” Instead, trying to say “I’m going to go grocery shopping on ____, send me your list and I will be happy to get it for you” or “Here is a gift certificate. Please use this to____.”

You can also express empathy. You might have lost someone, too. And while comparing your loss to the bereaved’s might seem like a good idea, it may come across as you trying to make it about you. Instead of writing, “I know how you feel” or “I’ve lost a ___ too”, try writing, “I’m grieving with you” or “I miss ___ too”. Sometimes you can’t make the service and want to apologize. Listing the various reasons why you couldn’t make a funeral or service may just look like you’re making excuses. Rather than writing, “I didn’t make the funeral because ___” try focusing on how you will support them in the future by saying something like, “I’m so sorry I couldn’t make it. I’m bringing lunch for you on ___ if that works for you.”

You can try to give the bereaved a call to express your emotions and support them in their time of loss. Expressing condolences can be a tricky thing, as it can be hard to know what to say. If you’re at a loss for words, you can try saying things like, “My thoughts are with you during this difficult time.”, “I’ll always remember how [name] would [insert story or characteristic here].”, “There are no words. Just know that I love you and will also miss [name].”, “[Name] was a great person. My sympathies to you and your family.”, “We are so sorry for your loss.”, or “No one can ever replace the remarkable person that your ____ was.”

Call or visit Sykes Funeral Home & Crematory today for more information on sympathy cards or if you would like to learn more about our Clarksville, TN funeral home and military services.

Funerals are somber events, especially those for veterans of our armed forces, leaving many people feeling worse afterwards instead of better. Celebrations of life, on the other hand, are happier occasions in which people celebrate life. Many people choose to hold a celebration of life in order to celebrate their lost loved one’s life rather than mourn their loss. Therefore, many funeral homes in Clarksville, TN offer celebration of life services.

A celebration of life, as the name denotes a celebration, so guests should expect a joyful event. These services are often more like parties than funerals, commemorating the deceased’s life. Funerals are generally more subdued events at which people speak in hushed tones and have subdued manners. Celebrations of life are usually more casual with the emphasis on the positives of the person’s life rather than the sadness of their passing. Think of a celebration of life as a more upbeat memorial service.

The choice to have a celebration of life instead of a funeral is usually at the behest of the deceased but can also be based on the bereaved’s personality. If you’re looking for inspiration for a celebration of life, you can:

• make a playlist of the deceased’s favorite music or songs to play at the event
• display some of the deceased’s prized possessions like collections, photos, or even clothing
• encourage guests to share funny and happy memories as well as poignant ones.
• ask friends and family to share their happy memories
• have people bring photos and mementos
• make a memory box or book and ask guests to write comments, memories, or leave mementos
• play a video or slide show of photos and video clips of the deceased

Celebrations of life are most commonly held at someone’s home, a garden, park, or a rented venue, unlike funerals that are held at funeral homes and churches. However, many funeral homes are starting to offer celebration of life services.

Similar to memorial services, these events are held after the cremation or burial, while some choose to hold them a year after the death as an anniversary commemoration. There really are no hard and fast rules about what celebrations of life should be. They can be whatever the bereaved and the deceased want them to be. Since celebrations of life are unlike funerals, they require different attire other than funerals. Generally, the bereaved ask celebration of life guests to wear more casual, bright or upbeat clothing to mark the happier tone of the occasion. Guests can also send flowers to bring color and life to the event, or to honor an aspect of the deceased’s life such as colors of a favorite sports team or an alma mater.

Sykes Funeral Home & Crematory is a Clarksville, TN funeral home with a range of veteran services and more. We can help you plan a service for your lost loved one. Call or visit us today to learn more. No matter what you plan for your lost loved one’s celebration of life it should be positive and a chance to remember the best of the deceased’s life.

Lots of people are looking to make better choices when it comes to protecting the environment, many funeral homes in Clarksville, TN offer green burials that aim to have a less negative impact, especially for military services. After all, if a military servicemember worked hard to protect their country, wouldn’t they also want to protect the planet?

A green burial sometimes referred to as natural burial, is a kind of burial that seeks to have an as little negative impact on the environment as possible. In order for a burial to be labeled green, a burial must take the following into consideration: conservation of natural resources, protection of industry workers’ health, preservation of the environment. They help protect the environment, industry workers, and natural resources with things like green cemeteries.

By choosing a green burial you are choosing to lessen your personal environmental impact or carbon footprint. Other people might choose to do a green burial because they view it as a return to the traditional way of body disposition from back before the commercialization of the funeral industry. Still, others choose green burials because they follow certain religious traditions. Judaism, for example, requires burial traditions that are in line with green burial practices. There are others that are beginning to worry about the impact humanity is having on the planet and are therefore looking into ways they can do their part to protect the environment

There are green cemeteries, sometimes called natural burial grounds, that require all bodies be buried in green caskets or burial shrouds. They have these policies in place to help maintain the surrounding natural habitat and landscape, protect local groundwater, and maintain a safe environment for local plants and animals. Conventional cemeteries, on the other hand, often use herbicides to maintain the landscaping, outer burial containers that prevent natural decomposition and allow embalmed bodies to be buried.

Green burials also don’t have embalming. Embalming is when a body is partially preserved using harsh chemicals. Embalming is harmful for both the planet and industry workers. Embalming fluid contains known carcinogens, making it unsafe for the industry workers that are frequently exposed to it. These chemicals can also harm fragile ecosystems when buried in the ground.

Green caskets, unlike conventional caskets, are made from sustainably sourced materials used in sustainable production methods. Also, green caskets are completely biodegradable, meaning that they will decompose fully and won’t add toxins to the surrounding soil as they decompose. Conventional caskets, on the other hand, usually take a very long time to decompose if they decompose at all. Plus, many are made with potentially toxic materials and chemicals that can hard the surrounding soil. There are also green casket companies that are considered “fair trade”, meaning the people making the caskets are employed in safe environments and receive a fair wage for their work.

Sykes Funeral Home & Crematory is a Clarksville, TN funeral home. Stop by or visit us today to learn more about green burials, military services, and what we can do for you in your time of loss. We are here to help in any way we can.