Valerie Paz

Professor Parks

NRS 348: Healthy Aging

8 December 2019

Funeral Planning

I chose to research more on the topic of the process and costs related to planning a

funeral. This topic has always interested me because it is not something you think or hear about

all the time. I believe that learning more about the funeral process will benefit me in the future if

I were to ever be in this unfortunate situation, be a little more at ease, knowing where I need to

start.

I chose to look more into the funeral home, and cemetery both my great grandparents are

buried at, Forest Lawn in Los Angeles. Forest Lawn is a beautiful cemetery and is always well

kept and maintained, and my grandparents lay on a beautiful hill overlooking all of Los Angeles.

Forest Lawn is famously known to be the home to the king of hip hop Michael Jackson. Being

that Forest Lawn is such a beautiful cemetery, the price for burial at this location is costly. I

decided to look more into the package that we chose when my great grandmother passed away.

The "Elegance Package" which includes essential services and facilities, care and preparation of

the body, a four-hour visitation, funeral ceremony, casket coach, casket choice, flower tribute,

personalized stationery collection, and a tribute allowance costs $14,295. Unfortunately, this cost

did not include the prayer service that would be held at a small Catholic Church nearby, which

would cost another $695. Another fee that was not included was the police escort, which would

be another $700. Just for the funeral itself, we are looking at $15,690. Another important factor I
almost forgot to include was the cost for the burial grounds. The burial ground pricing starts at

$6,800 at the Glendale location and $1,500 for the full-size interment space. This brings my total

to $23,990, and this does not include the banquet hall reception that is usually held after the

funeral service.

Growing up in a close-knit family and only experiencing two deaths in my lifetime, it has

always been the children that take responsibility for their parent's passing. This, to me, makes the

most sense because it is only fair that the children give back to their parents by making sure their

departure is how they wanted it to be. Of course, other family members are free to jump in and

help with the nitty gritty, like passing on the information for the burial and prayer services. What

amazes me the most to see during these hard times is how a death within the family brings the

family closer together. Unfortunately, it sometimes takes a death in the family for this to occur,

but it's still a beautiful thing.

Coping with my grandparent's death was probably one of the hardest things I have ever

done, especially doing it on my own. Now going to school and seeing all the available resources

there are to help, I wish I would have done that. The funeral home, Forest Lawn, actually holds

seminars to help people with coping skills and understand the meaning of grief. I think this is

great and can help people move past that particular time in their life. "Normal grief usually

includes some common emotional reactions that include emotional numbness, shock, disbelief,

and/or denial often occurring immediately after the death, particularly if the death is unexpected"

(PDQ, 2019). Knowing and understanding what grief is can be very beneficial in your road to

recovery. "Talk about the death of your loved one with friends and colleagues to understand what

happened and remember your friend or family member" (Grief, n.d.). This step is especially
important because if you don't talk about your feelings, you will begin to isolate yourself and

make matters worse.

 References:

Grief. (n.d.). Retrieved December 8, 2019, from https://www.apa.org/helpcenter/grief.

PDQ Supportive and Palliative Care Editorial Board. (2019, November 15). Grief, Bereavement,

and Coping With Loss (PDQ®). Retrieved December 8, 2019, from https://

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK66052/.