Make Time to Mourn
Though the pandemic has posed obstacles to funerals, delaying memorial services has also opened up unexpected opportunities for reflection and creativity.
Credit.Rose Wong
May 14, 2021, 2:33 p.m. ET
After the death of a loved one, the grief of each survivor is often different but the ritual of holding a funeral is shared.
“One of the big things that a memorial service does is it’s a collective acknowledgment,” said Megan Devine, a therapist specializing in grief and the author of the book “It’s OK That You’re Not OK.” “Acknowledgment really is one of the only medicines we have for grief.”
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An early riser, Willmar funeral director Nathan Streed usually begins his days around 6 a.m. and clocks out at 5:30 most evenings.
But recently his phone just keeps ringing, as COVID-19 continues to spread rapidly throughout Minnesota, claiming more than 4,400 lives and counting. You don t turn it off at night, said Streed, owner of Harvey Anderson and Johnson Funeral Homes, with six locations in central Minnesota. It s always on your mind.
Since the pandemic struck last spring, much attention has focused on the nation s first responders, the medical workers on the front lines. But relatively little heed has been given to the last responders funeral directors like Streed, who must make sense of these new and unfamiliar deaths and help guide the evolution in how we mourn them.