Tag Archive | "home"

Tags: , , , , , ,

Pre-planning a funeral? Kraeer-Becker Funeral Home can help

Posted on 09 January 2017 by LeslieM

By Rachel Galvin

When a loved one dies, there is often shock, disbelief, denial, anger, profound sadness. When the person who has passed has not left their loved ones with their final wishes, conflict can ensue between family members, making the situation even worse. That is why, although it is difficult to think or talk about, doing pre-planning for a funeral is the best and most loving thing a person can do for those left behind, according to Annie O’Mara and Jeff Marsman of Kraeer-Becker Funeral Home in Deerfield Beach.

Planning a funeral after someone has passed is not easy.

O’Mara, the Funeral Director, said, “Putting together a funeral is like planning a wedding in three days.”

She explained that besides picking whether the person will be buried or cremated, there is the selection of the casket, the clothing, the music, whether there will be a luncheon after, etc. There is always the question for those left to do the memorial if they are doing what their loved one who has passed would have wanted.

Having the discussion before it is necessary alleviates that wondering ‘Am I doing the right thing?’ It also allows for a more rational conversation. They get exactly what they want. When a death happens, the family members are in such a state of shock, it heightens the emotions and makes it more difficult. It is a loving gesture [on the part of the person who makes the pre-planning for themselves. It [eliminates] the burden,” she said.

Marsman, the Director of Family Services, said, “No two services are the same. Every family is unique.”

O’Mara added, “We can accommodate everyone’s religion, cultural beliefs and personalities. If it is possible, I can make it happen. There is no right or wrong way. I can make sure it is as special and individual as the person was.”

She has seen it all. She has been at Kraeer for the last 1 ½ years but was funeral director for 11 years elsewhere on the west coast.

She said, “I have cried with a few people. We sometimes laugh. I cannot change what has happened, but I can make the process the best it can be, make the experience easier.”

One of the other reasons, she said, to do pre-planning is to lock in the price.

The last 50 years, the average cost of a funeral has doubled every 10 years…,” she said.

Rates for funerals can run over $7000 said Annie and that is just for a service and economical casket. When you add clergy, an obit, escorts for the funeral procession, a luncheon, etc., it can add up. Kraeer-Becker handles A to Z, including clergy, florist, caterer, cemetery and more. Each cemetery, she explained, has different requirements, which she navigates and explains to the customer.

The plans are guaranteed by the state. If something happens to the funeral home or insurance company, the state will make sure it is still honored. If the funeral home goes out of business, another sister home or associated facility will take it over, she added.

Like the banking industry, we are insured,” she explained. “We [Dignity Memorial] are the largest provider of family services within the country. If you move to California, Texas, Nebraska, [etc., we can transfer the plans]. You don’t have to worry about redoing it.”

Dignity Memorial has over 2000 locations in North America. The Kraeer-Becker Funeral Home in Deerfield Beach is located at 217 E. Hillsboro Blvd. For more information, call 954-427-5544 or visit www.kraeerdeerfieldbeach.com.

Comments Off on Pre-planning a funeral? Kraeer-Becker Funeral Home can help

Tags: , , ,

Everything’s Coming Up Rosen: You can go home again

Posted on 02 June 2016 by LeslieM

By Emily Rosen

ERosen424@aol.com

www.emilyrosen424.com

Was it the red rocks? Was it the New Age-ism surrounding us? Was it our history? Was it the place where we stayed? Was it our mutual yen to get away? Was it the incredible freedom to be our totally uncensored selves? Or was it a mish-mash of all the above? Who cares! What it was was our version of five days of perfection.

The last time I saw Ivy, almost 30 years ago, we had tripped cross country together when she decided to move to California to be near her parents, after her live-in relationship with my son had ended – amicably. (Neither has since married – happily.) When we parted, we promised each other a version of a “do over,” when she reached the age that I was then (we’re 30 years apart). We’ve kept in touch, though unseen. Good people keep promises, if good luck be with them.

We met at the Phoenix airport, her salt and pepper hair braided Indian style slung over her left shoulder and rippling to her waist. Yep! That was Ivy. And for all the incessant picture taking that we did, no one was there for the moment we first spotted each other and hugged like the long lost souls that we were.

With apologies to Thomas Wolfe, you can go home again, or that is to say, you can recapture the bliss of those long ago moments. Well, we could, and did. Ivy, the artist/yoga-teacher/health food specialist/positive-energy-seeker, was the official log-burner on chilly nights at our temporary home at the Oak Creek Terrace Resort in Sedona. There we warmed ourselves by the fireplace and splashed in the double Jacuzzi, swung on the double swings on the top terrace in the morning sun, and toppled a few times in the double hammocks as we stared mesmerized at the creek waters hissing in speedy movement across the rocks at the lower terrace. We giggled a lot, too.

But we came for the reds and managed to find them while walking and hiking trails daily that spirited us to heights we couldn’t believe possible. Me … an ol’ lady, dragging up those trails. Wow! And one day we spent on a flat mesa, way high up, with not a soul in sight, hugged by Cathedral Rock, or was it Bell Rock? Chimney Rock? Thunder Mountain? Whichever one, it felt cozy and protected, emitting vibes of harmony and peace … oh, yes, love, too.

A hike on the path to the Buddhist Stupa in Peace Park, where we each engaged in our own style of meditation, topped off that day of soulfulness as the rains burst out of the clouds just as we closed the doors to the car. “Car-ma” indeed.

There were the eat places, greens and beans and soy in a myriad of iterations, and, once, a sneaked-in hunk of bison for the abs and brains, in garden settings with obsequious monk-like staff And oh, BTW, Ivy had sworn off liquor and I don’t drink alone, so no booze.

So throw away your anti-depressants, say good-bye to your shrink, book your flight to Sedona, and hide the TV remote when you get there. If you’re not smothered in constant bliss during your stay, I will eat your boarding pass.

As for Ivy, same time next year. I don’t have 30 more in me.

Comments Off on Everything’s Coming Up Rosen: You can go home again

Advertise Here
Advertise Here