• Moving Through the Stages of Grief

    If you’ve recently lost a loved one, there are several things you should know about the stages of grief. While you may be busy planning a funeral service and taking care of practicalities such as planning funeral or cremation services at a funeral home, it’s important to pay attention to your emotions during this challenging time. Read on to learn more about the stages of grief, and be sure to seek grief counseling for additional emotional support.

    Denial

    After losing a loved one, you’ll likely feel a sense of denial. While looking at funeral homes and attending the service, you may experience feelings of shock and numbness. These feelings are important for surviving the loss of your loved one.

    Anger

    Once your feelings of denial begin to fade, you may feel very angry about losing your loved one. Your anger could have a particular target, such as someone who didn’t attend the funeral, or even the person that you lost. This anger gives your life more structure as you move through the stages of grief. However, it’s important to move past it.

    Negotiating and Depression

    Once your anger has dissipated, you may enter a phase in which you look back on the past and think about what you should have done differently, leading to a lot of “what if” questions and negotiating with yourself. You may also feel a great depression, as if your life is suddenly empty.

    Acceptance

    The last stage of grief is acceptance—the acceptance of reality. This acceptance will allow you to move on in your life, making new relationships and progressing in your own interests. While you’ll never forget your loved one, your grief will no longer be the focus of your attention.

    Are you planning a funeral service near Oakland? Chapel of the Chimes Oakland is here to help you create an emotionally fulfilling funeral or cremation service for your loved one. Call (510) 654-0123 today to learn more about our unique service options for a variety of different preferences and budgets.

  • The World’s Most Famous Mausoleums

    When planning a funeral for a loved one, you have a choice of burying him in a burial plot at a cemetery, or having him entombed in a mausoleum . Mausoleums have long been used around the world by different cultures for entombing bodies or cremation remains. Here is a look at a few of the world’s most famous mausoleums.

    The Egyptian Pyramids

    The Egyptian pyramids are some of the oldest, largest, and most recognizable mausoleums. The majority of the pyramids were built as tombs for pharaohs and their aides during the Old and Middle Kingdom periods. Egyptians developed and advanced the technique of embalming, which allowed them to preserve the bodies of the dead for funeral services and entombment in mausoleums.

    The Taj Mahal

    The Taj Mahal is an enormous mausoleum built between 1632 and 1653 in Agra, India. This mausoleum was built in memory of the favorite wife of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. It is incredibly well preserved, and very important architecturally. The Taj Mahal is the centerpiece of a large complex, which, in addition to the mausoleum, also includes a mosque, reflecting pools, ornamental gardens, and a guest house. Muslim customs forbid any elaborate decoration on or around burial plots or graves, so the bodies of Shah Jahan and his wife reside in a plain crypt within the mausoleum.

    The Terracotta Army

    The Terracotta Army, located in Xi’an, China, is one of the country’s most-visited tourist attractions. The Terracotta Army surrounds the mausoleum of the First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty, and it was once buried underground. The mausoleum and tombs have not been unearthed, and many of the figures in the Terracotta Army are also still underground.

    If you’re looking for a funeral home near Oakland because you’re planning a funeral, burial service, or cremation, come see us at Chapel of the Chimes Oakland. We operate a funeral home and crematorium, and have onsite mausoleums, private family estates, columbariums, cremation gardens, and a memorial park. To learn more about our funeral and cremation services, call us today at (510) 654-0123.

  • Ways to Memorialize a Loved One

    When you arrange a funeral service or memorial service for a loved one, your funeral home can offer you a variety of memorialization options. You can still design a memorial plaque for his columbarium niche, or a bench or statue to be placed in a memorial park. A personalized memorial in a memorial park, cemetery, columbarium, or mausoleum gives friends and family a place to visit and remember the person who passed.

    One of the most common memorialization options is a gravestone or statue placed on the loved one’s burial plot in a cemetery. You can also personalize a memorial bench, bust, pedestal, or monument. After cremation, you can place a personalized memorial to your loved one in a memorial park, keep the ashes in a memorial urn, or have some ashes turned into cremation jewelry.

    If you’re looking for a columbarium, mausoleum, or memorial park near Oakland , come see us at Chapel of the Chimes Oakland. Our beautiful funeral home grounds hold columbariums, mausoleums, and a memorial park, and we offer a number of personalized memorial options. To learn more about our memorial and funeral services, call us today at (510) 654-0123.

  • Cremation and the Environment

    Many people are now choosing cremation services at funeral homes and crematoriums , rather than burial in a cemetery. One of the primary reasons that people opt for cremation when funeral planning or planning ahead for their own funeral services is that cremation is such an environmentally friendly option. Here is a look at just some of the ways that cremation is eco-friendly.

    Doesn’t Require Land Use for a Burial Plot

    Traditional burial services require a burial plot in a cemetery. This means that more and more natural land is being used for cemeteries and burial plots, rather than preserved. When you choose cremation, you do not have to take up valuable, natural land for a burial plot. Instead, cremated remains can be scattered, kept by loved ones as a memorial, or entombed in a columbarium.

    Doesn’t Necessitate Embalming

    The process of embalming a body prior to a funeral service or burial service requires the use of toxic chemicals. As a body decomposes in its burial plot, these chemicals seep into the ground, harming the earth and any nearby water sources. A body doesn’t need to be embalmed prior to cremation. You can still hold a funeral ceremony or memorial before or after cremation, and simply not have the body present for viewing. This eliminates the need for dangerous and harmful embalming chemicals.

    Uses Fewer Resources and Less Energy

    Before being placed in a burial plot at a cemetery, a body must be enclosed in a casket. The manufacturing of caskets and the preparation of the body for burial both consume a lot of energy and resources, thus taxing the earth. Far fewer resources are needed for cremation services, and the family doesn’t have to buy a casket.

    If you’re interested in learning more about the benefits of cremation near Oakland , come see us at Chapel of the Chimes Oakland. Our knowledgeable, compassionate funeral home staff can help you arrange a funeral for a loved one, or pre-plan a funeral for yourself. Call us today at (510) 654-0123 for more information about our cremation services.