Importance of Funerals

Tomb Sweeping Day honors ancestors while connecting modern families   

Ching Ming the Tomb Sweeping Day originated in China. It is observed on the 15^th day after the Spring Equinox. On the Western calendar this translates to April 4^th or 5^th.  On this national day of observation of death, descendants visit gravesites of family members who have passed. There are distinct rituals. One is sharing of food, picnic style graveside if there was a burial or at the marker for Chinese families whose loved ones chose cremation. Traditions of the culturally diverse Lower Mainland are recognized and respected by Richmond-based, Can-Trust-Funeral Ltd. They are among the lifecycle events understood by the licensed and professional funeral directors who serve families who seek help with funeral arrangements in Vancouver, funeral services in Surrey, in Burnaby and in New Westminster. Ching Ming activity occurs long after a cremation, memorial or funeral service, yet is a long term value present even during a funeral arrangement.  

What is the origin and importance of Ching Ming (Qingming)? 

Tomb Sweeping Day brings families together in remembrance, not only with each other, but also with the whole country if in China where the tradition originated, or within the community they reside in the world over.  

The name is based on two Chinese characters: Ching which means clean or pure and of Ming which represents brightness. A day to honour the dead exists in most cultures. In China ancestor worship is known as the only religion native to China. All other religions practiced in China or by Chinese people in the Lower Mainland of BC would have been imported from outside the country.  

What are the rituals of Ching Ming?  

Families will, at a minimum, make an annual visit to the gravesite on the Qing Ming or Tomb Sweeping Festival.  

At the gravesite, families gather and carry out these rituals:  

• Weed the area 
• Clean the headstone 
• Place fresh flowers and remove wilted ones  
• Light incense  

Some also burn Joss, the imitation paper money, similar to the practice of burning it at the funeral to provide for the deceased in the afterlife.  

When family gathers you can expect that food preparation and sharing is in the plans 

• The food is eaten together at the gravesite or marker in the case of cremation as if at a picnic with the loved one who has passed. Tradition holds that it is good luck to eat food first laid out at the headstone in an offering to the spirits of the deceased.  

• As at the time of a funeral, the resting place of the deceased is approached in a set order determined by family roles and ages. Rituals include bowing, pouring out a cup of wine at the headstone holding the right fist cupped in the left hand.  

• Modern families often opt to simplify the visit and obligate only the eldest son. In this case the formal offering at the visit may be limited to incense, paper money and flowers.  

A professional funeral director can help guide a grieving family with their immediate funeral arrangements. They are sensitive to the cultural rituals in an increasingly diverse community and can guide families in the best course of action and the many choices involved in funeral services to best suit their needs and understand their future connection to the funeral service.   

If you require reliable, straightforward and affordable service, with compassion, always, contact Can-Trust-Funeral before you engage with any funeral homes. Call 604-376-7975 or email to book a free professional consultation. You are never obligated.      

Our Can-Trust team of licensed funeral directors, provides funeral services in Burnaby, funeral services in Richmond, Vancouver and throughout the Lower Mainland.      

Phone: 604-376-7975      

E-mail: can-trust-funeral@outlook.com      

WeChat: Cantrustfuneral      

Learn more at the Can-Trust Funeral Ltd website 

‘Swedish death cleaning’ tips to welcome spring in BC’s Lower Mainland from Can-Trust Funeral

Do you know the forever favour you can do for your family that is rarely spoken of? Imagine that as you get into the seasonal rite of spring to freshen and declutter, that you plan ahead to the inevitable – your death. Swedish death cleaning encourages just that. With a little planning ahead the method spares loved ones the difficult task of also rummaging around your unsorted possessions trying to decide, dispose and distribute all the stuff of your life. Richmond-based Can-Trust-Funeral offers this look at the practical, sometimes fun and certainly not morbid solution to this picture. Swedish death cleaning – helps to get your life in order and lightens the burden for families after a graveside funeral, cremation or memorial. As the funeral directors at Can-Trust who help families in the Lower Mainland to also pre-plan their funeral arrangements can attest, similar benefits await the person who plans ahead. They often enjoy a clearer, free and more abundant life now.  

Why wait to get started?  Here’s how. 

The concept became globally popular with the publication of Margareta Magnusson’s, book   “The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Free Yourself and Your Family from a Lifetime of Clutter. The chapters give practical ‘how to’s as well as specific notes on how life becomes more pleasant and how it makes it all easier for your loved ones now and after your passing.  

Magnusson suggests you start where you are. Mid-life is not too early.  Why wait? Her personal experience is based on cleaning out the homes of parents, in-laws and friends, after they passed, as well as the home she shared with her husband after he died. And though the Swede reiterates the benefits you’ll feel after death cleaning, she stresses, “It’s about doing a favor for those who survive you, too.” 

Some of her tips to create space, for lighter abundant living in the present are:   

• Give yourself lots of time. You’ll be able to savour the memories and make calm decisions.  
• Pull items out of the storage areas. This may mean the attic and the basement, places full of times already not a daily priority.  Make room to enjoy life more now. Leave less for others to deal with later.  “Mess is an unnecessary source of irritation,” says Magnusson. 
• See it as a way to organize your everyday to run your life more smoothly as a permanent choice or habit. 

• Find the joy and delight in the process as you go through things and enjoy the memories and their worth to you. Cleaning then becomes more than dusting or mopping up. 

In her book, Magnusson suggests you resolve to reduce, give to others in your circle, sell or donate the ‘stuff’ of your life that you no longer need anymore. 

Pre-planning for death an outcome of pre-cleaning for life  

Magnusson’s take on clutter is that is simplifies and enriches your life to lighten up. In pre-planning funeral arrangements, she feels you have some control of the nature of the funeral service. From casket to ceremony at least you can contribute to how your life is honoured and celebrated. 

The licenced professional funeral directors at Can-Trust-Funeral based on their experience serving families can help at any time in their funeral arrangement needs – immediate, pre-planned or imminent, would add these benefits to pre-planning:  

• Have clear instructions to family about your wishes for the type of funeral service you want  
• Prepare documents or instructions that will help with the complex paperwork after a loved one dies such as: death certificates, transplant and tissue donations, cancellations of subscriptions, sim cards, credit cards, ongoing billing and interest charges. 

It can be challenging and emotionally exhausting for a long time for your loved ones to untangle and close off all these details of daily living.  

Pre-planning a funeral when things are calm lets you consider costs and options with less stress or hurry or worry about financing a funeral. With planning in advance your loved ones can follow your wishes clearly and not wonder about all the many decisions to make when planning a funeral. 

If you require reliable, straightforward and affordable service offered with compassion, always, contact Can-Trust-Funeral before you engage with any funeral homes. Call 604-376-7975 or email to book a free professional consultation. You are never obligated.      

Our Can-Trust team of licensed funeral directors, provides funeral services in Burnaby, funeral services in Richmond, Vancouver and throughout the Lower Mainland.      

Phone: 604-376-7975      

E-mail: can-trust-funeral@outlook.com      

WeChat: Cantrustfuneral      

Learn more at the Can-Trust Funeral Ltd website 

How to cope at Valentine’s Day when grief has taken hold of your heart from Vancouver’s Can-Trust-Funeral Home and Services  

Valentine’s Day is a time that celebrates love and our emotional relationships with family, friends, partners and spouses. Yet for anyone grieving a loss, no matter how much time since their loved one has passed, Valentine’s Day can be tough. Can-Trust’s funeral directors have seen individuals cope with grief. They have some ideas if you are feeling a loss deeply around Valentine’s Day, in the midst of inescapable marketing and store displays on romance and coupled bliss. 

These are places of sanctuary for the soul and some gestures that may lighten your heart as you feel and you remember:   

Accept that grief is personal 

• Not only is there no time limit for any one person’s healing, each person feels it in their own way.  

• Ignore the ‘rules’ and you do you. Cope as you are in the way that comforts you. Don’t take on any pressure, on any given day to be a certain way.  

Honour your loved one’s memory 

• What about doing something in memory of your beloved?  

• It could become your new Valentine’s Day tradition when thinking of them and feeling their absence.  

Honour the loved one by continuing to live well   

• If you allows yourself to focus on self-care, you add life to your years and the energy to keep your loved one’s memory and impact alive.  

• Many sources for tips to get through Valentine’s Day may urge a quiet time of reflection and recharge. Today’s truth is that everyone has quiet time now due to the pandemic. Many can’t spend time with loved ones. Your distance is simply more permanent.  

Be thine own Valentine and consider any of these ideas to share your thoughts or find solace in activity or reflection: 

• Brighten the day or your home with flowers 
• Breathe purposefully, meditate, walk, exercise, get a massage, have a nice meal, rest well and go for that chocolate of your choice  

• Share your feelings with family, friends, and confidants and arrange to spend time with others, not ONLY couples who celebrate Valentine’s Day 

Valentine’s Day will never be the same without your loved one, and it’s okay, even healthy, to experience sadness at this thought. Perhaps if you plan ahead and incorporate some of these activities in the days leading up to Valentine’s Day, you can prepare yourself for the holiday and find peace of mind in the midst of a dizzying array of hearts, cards and candy.     

A professional funeral director helps people with their funeral arrangements and the many choices involved in funeral services. They see the deep pain of bereavement directly and so also have the experience to assure you that this pain you feel, it does shift over time.    

If you require reliable, straightforward and affordable service, and with compassion, always, contact  Can-Trust-Funeral before you engage with any funeral homes. Call 604-376-7975 or email to book a free professional consultation. You are never obligated.     

Our Can-Trust team of licensed funeral directors, provides funeral services in Burnaby, funeral services in Richmond, Vancouver and throughout the Lower Mainland.     

Phone: 604-376-7975     

E-mail: can-trust-funeral@outlook.com     

WeChat: Cantrustfuneral     

Learn more at the Can-Trust Funeral Ltd website 

Why families turn to care and experience of Richmond-based Can-Trust-Funeral’s funeral directors when faced with a death and funeral arrangements near the Lunar New Year

A death in the family is unfortunate at any time. Yet, families in some cultures feel that additional bad luck befalls them if they need to make funeral arrangements and to observe a period of mourning at the time of an auspicious celebration. Such is the case for funerals or deaths, falling at the Lunar New Year, also known as the Spring Festival. The licensed professional funeral directors at Richmond-based Can-Trust-Funerals have experience in guiding families as they plan funeral arrangements at any time. While each event marks a death such as the end of the year and the start of a bright New Year with many known rituals of celebration, the other is the final end of life with many, often complex rituals that mark a final death in a family. Special caring and capable support is available for such funeral arrangements in Vancouver, funeral services in Burnaby, in Richmond and funeral ceremonies in Coquitlam and New Westminster.  

Common Practices  

There are some practices in common for both Lunar New Year preparations and those carried out for funerals in Chinese families. Close family and cultural connections are clear as families prepare their homes, don different clothes and travel to be together. Families set aside money to put all the necessary elements in place for the occasion and to spend on gifts for special relationships. The detail and duty, however in funeral arrangements for a forever farewell at a Chinese funeral service, burial or cremation can be complex. BC’s Lower Mainland families rely on the licensed death care professionals at Can-Trust-Funeral to guide them. The funeral directors are trusted for their impeccable handling of the paperwork and are sought out for their exceptional care of the family.  

As a Vancouver funeral home, the funeral directors are especially attentive in helping Chinese families fulfill their obligations. Even as families outside of Hong Kong or Mainland China may adapt funeral services to be less lengthy and funeral arrangements to be more in line with local community choices, the details are still so many and significant that respectful and experienced professional care is a necessity. 

These are some of the elements of culture Can-Trust helps families fulfill:  

Timing       

The choice of a suitable and auspicious date for the funeral arrangements is important as mourners believe it impacts a family’s fortunes. So, the Chinese are particular about dates and consult the lunar calendar book and expert for the right dates for burial and service according to customs for particular good luck dates. 

Can-Trust-Funeral proceeds with cultural sensitivity, regardless of the religious or traditional rites of the families the funeral directors serve.  

Death near or on Lunar New Year can put the fortunes of the family into a precarious position.   New Year is a time for firsts, for looking forward and funerals are not an auspicious way to begin the year, in the perceptions of many Chinese people. 

Can-Trust’s funeral directors can assure families they have time to carry out proper funeral arrangements. A priority is time to allow family members to travel if needed to be together for the funeral services. Ceremonies may last hours or days according to how families observe their traditions.   

Connection of family and community  

Gathering together to grieve, to show respect and to support the family is naturally, a part of the Chinese funeral arrangement and experience.  

Can-Trust-Funeral’s funeral directors strive to accommodate these elements to support a family within the pandemic protocols for safety. These include casket placement, viewings and the exchange of the traditional red envelopes and the white envelopes. 

Social distance in compliance with COVID regulations, can be heartbreaking.  Cameras now often stand in place of participants and give mourners the chance to participate virtually from their homes to share the funeral service via video link. (Video funeral service tips)  

A word about money  

Chinese culture has in its elaborate funeral rites and memorial rituals, allows for time and money as part of the honouring of the souls of those who have died. 

This commitment can make families vulnerable as they try to fulfill traditions and have a desire to do the right thing in the eyes of the family, community and in the memory of the loved one who passed. 

The topic of money is hardly avoided in this tradition. The funeral service itself includes Joss money, crafted from bamboo or rice paper that is burnt during Chinese funerals in order to ‘give’ money to the souls of the deceased. 

Mourners leave money in white envelopes to help with the family’s funeral expenses and to show respect. Red pockets or red envelopes that contain a candy to have a sweet taste in mourner’ mouths and a coin to be spent soon after the funeral service are distributed by the family.  

Funeral arrangements may include costs not faced by other families. There is pressure to select a casket befitting the loved one’s role and position in the family and to provide silk blankets in distinct colours for each child to place on the body in respect for all the times the parent has cared for them in their lives. Uniquely coloured flowers for each generation of females and similarly unique armbands for the males related to the deceased.   

These are just some examples, in addition to the headstones, grave markers, burial plots, urns and costs of the funeral service itself such as flowers, décor and photos, paperwork costs, foods, transportation including possibly out of province or country for burial and officiants. 

Can-Trust-Funeral’s professional standards and company’s code of ethics ensures that families preparing funeral arrangements in advance or at time of need, receive all the information and guidance to make fair and proper decisions that suit the family’s vision and preferences in the final farewell funeral ceremonies for their loved ones.     

Can-Trust-Funeral wishes all Lower Mainland families prosperity for this Lunar New Year,  Year of the Ox and peace of mind, and in these days, safety and health all year round.  

For caring guidance on all options in the Lower Mainland community, Can-Trust funeral directors provide reliable, straightforward and affordable service 

With compassion, always.  

Before you engage with any funeral homes, please call Can-Trust-Funeral at 604-376-7975 or email to book a free professional consultation. You are never obligated.  

Can-Trust’s team of licensed funeral directors, provides funeral services in Burnaby, funeral services in Richmond, Vancouver and throughout the Lower Mainland.

Phone: 604-376-7975  

E-mail: can-trust-funeral@outlook.com  

WeChat: Cantrustfuneral  

Visit us online for more information. 

Do you feel guilt when you find peace and calm while grieving the loss of a loved one?

Grief is a very individual process. Its duration and depth is very personal. The Richmond-based, licensed and professional funeral directors at Can-Trust-Funeral, offer these supportive words to grieving families. Their message serves families long after their contact with the professional funeral directors’ roles in planning of funeral arrangements, ensuring all documents are correct to eliminate paper work stress, cremation arrangements, memorial planning or celebration of life events. 

While Can-Trust-Funeral directors can refer families who want to address the longer term emotional impact of the loss of a loved one, to colleagues dedicated to after care, they have heard some particular questions shared by Lower Mainland families who have been served by Can-Trust’s team of professionals: 

 Q.  Is it wrong for me to feel calm? 

It is natural to feel grief and to suffer with the loss of a family member. Usually that feeling is felt in stages that move you from suffering and then with acceptance towards a deeper, perhaps calmer feeling about death.  

We are often sensitive about what others around us might feel, or the way in which we are told we should show our grief.  It’s not actually that there is something wrong with you.  

Q. How long does grief linger in our day to day lives?  

Sadness may come and go. You will likely feel a sense of your loved ones being with you at any time.  

You may feel more peace if you are aware of these natural cycles.  You may find comfort over time in the memories and traditions you shared even as you miss the people who are gone. You may feel their presence at the holiday table or in the conversations you are having while spending time with others.  

It takes as long as it takes, to ‘get over’ a loss of any relationship, especially when that loss is permanent due to the death of a loved one.  

Know, it’s OK to talk about them to say, “I miss him so much.”  

Q. Will the pain ever go away? 

Pain never really goes away, but it lessens. Its energy moves into a different place.   

Over time, the pain shifts to other parts of the body, or your daily life. Eventually, your suffering lessens. This lightening makes some people feel guilty. 

Grief is a journey. As you heal the heaviness may lift and that pain will shift and won’t be so prominent.  

Understanding the process and having compassion for the person, especially yourself, applies to both groups of people in grief, say the Funeral Directors: 

• Primary griever 

• Support system 

There are other tools besides time that can help bring relief. (LINK TO ROUTINES POST) 

It’s OK to feel better at your own time and in your own way.  It’s not a betrayal if in the maintenance of health and wellbeing the memory of the loved one lives on. Some feel it is their lifelong journey to uphold the memory but this hanging on may block recovery. It may block the ability to move beyond the pain towards a new and healthy ongoing connection to the loved one.  

Can-Trust’s funeral directors offer families caring guidance on all options in the Lower Mainland community. We provide reliable, straightforward and affordable service, and with compassion, always.    

Before you engage with any funeral homes, please call Can-Trust-Funeral at 604-376-7975 or email to book a free professional consultation. You are never obligated.    

Our Can-Trust team of licensed funeral directors, provides funeral services in Burnaby, funeral services in Richmond, Vancouver and throughout the Lower Mainland.    

Phone: 604-376-7975    

E-mail: can-trust-funeral@outlook.com    

WeChat: Cantrustfuneral    

Learn more at the Can-Trust Funeral Ltd website 

3 Ways you can heal from grief even as society engulfs you with celebratory seasonal messages from Vancouver’s Can-Trust-Funeral

January continues to evoke mixed feelings for families dealing with traumatic loss of loved ones that may have been triggered at Christmas. The universal holiday of rebirth is a season filled with music and greetings asking us to be joyful, feel happy and share peace with our fellow humans. The funeral directors at Richmond based, Can-Trust-Funeral, know of the turmoil a family feels as they miss recently lost loved ones or have painful memories while messages at the New Year urge fresh starts.  

Can-Trust-Funeral’s death care professionals see that these recommendations have helped families in the Lower Mainland of BC, adjust after funerals, cremations, memorials and celebrations of life.  

1. Focus on healing

Christmas time is traumatic for many reasons and may even bring up PTSD. In January, it is customary to put up a new calendar, open a new date book and with it the opportunity to reset.  

Everyone’s healing journey is unique and takes as long as it takes. It may be helpful to talk about it, and in the process let others help you.  

2. Structure  in new habits, routines, traditions 

What gets people through a season or any day is as individual a thing as their dealing with grief. They may go for counselling. They may move through grief with regular exercise. 

• These new habits can be added to a life sustaining routine whose new elements might focus on mental or physical health, or ways to engage with other people.  

• Routine helps. It gives structure and supports the hopefully happy new additions in someone’s life. It’s not a betrayal if in the maintenance of health and wellbeing the memory of the loved one lives on.  

• Some people honour the loved one who passed by setting up a fund or foundation as one of many ways to observe a tradition that links them to loved one who passed.  

These may become a new tradition in the family.     

3. Better anniversary planning   

• Be well prepared, emotionally, especially if it is only the first year. Anticipate the next round of anniversary days or events. These could also be triggers like their wedding anniversary, the accident, the death, the diagnosis. 

• We each remember in our own way. The calendar, our body remembers and now even if you have not programmed it into a calendar, Social media sends you reminders of everyday calendar events and memories.  

• Consider helping others and comforting them, such as a parent when the other has passed. Such human connection helps everyone.  

Can-Trust’s funeral directors offer families caring guidance on all options in the Lower Mainland community. We provide reliable, straightforward and affordable service, and with compassion, always.    

Before you engage with any funeral homes, please call Can-Trust-Funeral at 604-376-7975 or email to book a free professional consultation. You are never obligated.    

Our Can-Trust team of licensed funeral directors, provides funeral services in Burnaby, funeral services in Richmond, Vancouver and throughout the Lower Mainland.    

Phone: 604-376-7975    

E-mail: can-trust-funeral@outlook.com    

WeChat: Cantrustfuneral    

Learn more at the Can-Trust Funeral Ltd website 

Happy holidays! ’Tis the season proclaimed to be the most wonderful time of the year.  Richmond-based Can-Trust-Funeral’s professional death care specialists know that December is an emotion laden month. In a season full of expectation to be outwardly cheerful and to meet traditions of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and the New Year with Vancouver funeral directors at Can-Trust offer these words of comfort and support to remember the gifts of grief. 

Know you are not alone  

• Despite outward appearances not everyone is as happy as they seem. We all have our own systems in place to hide our feelings of loss or anxiety.  

Allow for the gift of others to support you    

• You are not alone in this season of grief. You are entitled to fully feel your emotions. We often go along and cover up how we feel. Our feelings inform us and are part of the process of grief. It’s an opportunity to let others in who might themselves benefit from your sharing and being given the opportunity to help. A surprising vital connection may form when you don’t hide behind a social smile or a colourful hat.  

Give yourself the gift of time to reflect 

• A counterpoint to the hubbub of the preparation for holidays and the planned feasting is taking the time to look inward. Give yourself the gift of being with your emotions, whatever they may be. How you feel is how you feel. Let these feelings pass through you, and remember that they do not last forever.  Read tips on self-care in this season here.    

Can-Trust’s licensed funeral directors understand loss at any season of our lives. 

Can-Trust’s funeral directors offer families caring guidance on all options in the Lower Mainland community. We provide reliable, straightforward and affordable service, and with compassion, always.   

Before you engage with any funeral homes, please call Can-Trust-Funeral at 604-376-7975 or email to book a free professional consultation. You are never obligated.   

Our Can-Trust team of licensed funeral directors, provides funeral services in Burnaby, funeral services in Richmond, Vancouver and throughout the Lower Mainland.   

Phone: 604-376-7975   

E-mail: can-trust-funeral@outlook.com   

WeChat: Cantrustfuneral   

Learn more at the Can-Trust Funerals Ltd website 

Even while we are dealing with grief, the glitter and lights of the season may push us into the expected festive feelings and beyond to a kind of toxic positivity. We may act, almost excessively happy despite being in a difficult emotional state. Grief is highly personal. And, personal rituals help to cope with the depths of grief now in festive weeks and into the onset of darker winter months say the professional funeral directors at Richmond-based Can-Trust-Funeral.  

As licensed funeral directors, they have seen the challenge to hope and faith in the future as grieving families go through funeral arrangements, memorials and celebrations of life. Many choose to benefit from rituals at the funeral service and long after look to help them move forward and to live life as best as possible. Rituals acknowledge reality and honour a person’s feelings of missing loved ones in the fray of festivities.  

Examples of meaningful rituals shared by families with the funeral directors who have helped plan funeral arrangements in Richmond, Steveston, Vancouver, or funerals in Burnaby, funeral services in Surrey and funeral services in New Westminster have included:  

At the funeral, memorial, celebration of life or cremation services  

• Graveside actions such as ripping of clothes, or attaching a black ribbon or arm band  
• Shoveling earth into the grave 
• Cut flowers  to throw into the grave or floral arrangements to place on the casket  
• Visit the cemetery or a memorial site on the anniversary of a death  
• Vancouver funeral services often revolve around an offering- something said, something to take away, such as a memorial card as a keepsake  

At home:   

• Light candles 
• Set a place for the dead at the dinner table 
• Put the memorial card from the services in a place of honour at home and to hold as a keepsake.    

The possibilities for relief through rituals are endless as it all comes from the heart. 

Should we be able to ease your mind as you consider advance death care arrangements in the Metro Vancouver area or need to talk to us now, please contact us for a consult. You are never under any obligation. 

We wish you the best at this time.  To all we extend the guiding principal that helps us help others, Compassion, Always 

Can-Trust’s funeral directors offer families caring guidance on all options in the Lower Mainland community. We provide reliable, straightforward and affordable service, and with compassion, always.   

Before you engage with any funeral homes, please call Can-Trust-Funeral at 604-376-7975 or email to book a free professional consultation. You are never obligated.   

Our Can-Trust team of licensed funeral directors, provides funeral services in Burnaby, funeral services in Richmond, Vancouver and throughout the Lower Mainland.   

Phone: 604-376-7975   

E-mail: can-trust-funeral@outlook.com   

WeChat: Cantrustfuneral   

Learn more at the Can-Trust-Funeral website 

The bustle and bright lights of the holiday season can bring with it difficult days for people experiencing deep grief for a recent loss, or long lost loved one, or a sudden and traumatic death. Now, with the pandemic precautions, we may feel even more bereft of human comfort. The team at Can-Trust Funeral has some suggestions based on serving families preparing to mark loss in funeral home services in Richmond, funerals in Surrey, Burnaby, Coquitlam and greater Vancouver. 

Mourners have the opportunity to express anguish and tears of sadness at the time of a funeral or memorial. Mourning is public. It is acceptable and encouraged. 

Grief is the silent, private part that endures with no predictable limit. It can be anticipated as a recurring reminder of our loss, recent or long ago, or it can ambush us – brought on as we see holiday decorations going up, or receive invitations for rounds of merrymaking and celebrations for a great new year ahead. 

Can-Trust’s Funeral Directors offer this advice on how to care for ourselves and perhaps to ease our feeling of being alone with the distress and also our worry about spoiling the time for family and friends.  These two main ideas of feeling and action might be of help. 

1. Take time to mark the moment 

Choose from any of the rituals to honour those who passed and to mark your personal remembrance of them, even well after their funeral or memorial. 

• It is customary in many religions and societal traditions to remember the dead with visits to the physical grave. Christmas like the anniversary of the death is a natural time for family and friends to visit the grave. 
• Bring flowers or other objects to remember the deceased. These are sometimes placed on the grave as a sign of respect.   

• Bring candles, a wreath or take comfort by making your own ornaments as a meaningful gesture to decorate the monument. 

2.   Look Up and Out, Never Giving Up 

Try to be ‘outgoing’ and try to look outside yourself to see the positive moments and people around you. This is possible even with the distancing requirements and social restrictions due to pandemic precautions.  

• You can be true to your feelings yet join in as you can in activity with others. 
• Get outside to enjoy fresh air to restore energy to the body and perspective to the spirit. Now a must –do action for everyone, so you will be alone yet together in nature.  

• Feel and act at your own comfort level. There’s no need to push beyond what you can do, only to be open to do something and not isolate yourself during this season.  
• If you are having more hours of isolation, perhaps a meditation practice to calm thoughts might be good to star.   

We have been working closely as a team at Can-Trust-Funerals for years. We know the mix of heartbreak and happiness in memories that flood us at this time of year. That includes you and the care we encourage you to offer yourself. 

Should we be able to ease your mind as you consider advance death care arrangements in the Metro Vancouver area or need to talk to us now, please contact us for a consult. You are never under any obligation. 

We wish you the best at this time.  To all we extend the guiding principal that helps us help others, Compassion, Always 

Can-Trust’s funeral directors offer families caring guidance on all options in the Lower Mainland community. We provide reliable, straightforward and affordable service, and with compassion, always.   

Before you engage with any funeral homes, please call Can-Trust-Funeral at 604-376-7975 or email to book a free professional consultation. You are never obligated.   

Our Can-Trust team of licensed funeral directors, provides funeral services in Burnaby, funeral services in Richmond, Vancouver and throughout the Lower Mainland.   

Phone: 604-376-7975   

E-mail: can-trust-funeral@outlook.com   

WeChat: Cantrustfuneral   

Learn more at the Can-Trust-Funeral website 

National days are dedicated to honour and remember the dead in countries round the globe. Rituals observed closer to home, say the death care professionals at Richmond-based, Can-Trust-Funeral, can help individuals who come from those traditions to heal after funeral services in Vancouver or cremations, graveside funeral services or memorials throughout the Lower Mainland, too. 

Public memorial and death related experiences on a national scale  

You may have heard of Mexico’s Día de Muertos a holiday that honors the dead and is so renowned that it is celebrated well beyond its borders. 

This month of November is when many countries have a national day for families and friends to gather in tribute to their deceased loved ones. They days often include festivities, with plenty of colour, loud music and food and then allow for quiet, private reflection and remembering,  

A few examples of how entire countries observe remembrance of funeral services are:  

Brazil’s Dia de Finados, is far less a pagan influenced celebration and is a Catholic holiday. Mass is shared in the community and then private reflections are in effect 

Ecuador has its Día de Todos los Santos and Philippines’ All Saints’ Day is named similarly, but has in addition to feasting, travel by Filipinos back to their homes.  

National rituals in Asia, Europe and South America observed on a dedicated day may include time to tidy up cemeteries, place flowers on graves and light candles in honor of their relatives who have passed on. One of these is Chingming, or Tomb Sweeping Day, to venerate the dead in China, in the spring. Graves are cleaned off and only cold foods are served yet the tradition also greets the oncoming springtime.  

Guatemalans fly huge, colourful and extravagant kites painted by hand and prepared months in advance.   

Haitians funeral rituals revolve around singing, dancing, drinking and sacrifices that take place close to the cemeteries and recall both the powers of death and fertility.  

Halloween in the USA and Samhain in Ireland occur at the end of October. Like at other celebrations skeletons, torches, outdoor activity and feasting focus on the community’s sharing in the remembrance.  

Close to home, Can Trust’s funeral directors have observed personal rituals drawn from the Lower Mainland citizens’ countries of origin.

Examples of some personal choices are: 

• Offerings at funerals in Surrey 
• Touching comments at cremations for New Westminster family members who passed 
• Candles lit at celebrations of life in Burnaby 
• Memorial cards to hold as a keepsake at funeral services in Richmond 
• Flowers in the sanctuary or strewn onto caskets at funerals in Vancouver  

Funeral Directors working with families in Richmond, Steveston, Vancouver, or in planning funerals in Burnaby, funeral services in Surrey and funeral services in New Westminster help families create the meaningful rituals to connect and together to face the reality of the death.   

Can-Trust’s funeral directors offer families caring guidance on all options in the Lower Mainland community. We provide reliable, straightforward and affordable service, and with compassion, always.   

Before you engage with any funeral homes, please call Can-Trust-Funeral at 604-376-7975 or email to book a free professional consultation. You are never obligated.   

Our Can-Trust team of licensed funeral directors, provides funeral services in Burnaby, funeral services in Richmond, funeral services in Vancouver and throughout the Lower Mainland.   

Phone: 604-376-7975   

E-mail: can-trust-funeral@outlook.com   

WeChat: Cantrustfuneral   

Learn more at Can-Trust-Funerals Ltd. website