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Losing a loved one can trigger a very stressful time in someone’s life, especially if they are tasked with planning and holding that loved one’s funeral. In addition to grieving, they have to decide on the big details about the decedent’s funeral and their final resting place. And having to make those decisions can raise a lot of questions. Should they be cremated or buried? Will they be embalmed or refrigerated? And when exactly do you have to hold the service after your loved one’s death?

When a loved one dies, posting an obituary is an essential part of the funeral planning process. Obituaries tell community members when and where the funeral will be, but they also share just how special your loved one was with the world. But who writes obituaries? There are a few options and restrictions when an obituary is published.

Grief is a normal part of life. After losing a loved one, most people will experience grief in some form. That feeling can go on for a while, but as the adage goes, “Time heals all wounds.” As anyone who has ever lost someone very close to them will tell you, time may help, but it doesn’t fully heal. Years after that person’s death, you’ll still think of them, still wish they were around, but you’ll have moved on with your life. The wound will still hurt from time to time, but the feeling of grief will no longer be all-encompassing.

It’s common to see tears shed at a funeral. What’s less common is to hear uproarious laughter. Why would someone laugh during a funeral? Well, it happens more often than you’d think. But is it okay to laugh and smile at someone’s funeral? Whether or not it’s all right to get the giggles depends on many factors.

After any funeral, there are still a lot of questions about what comes next. In addition to dealing with grief, loved ones have to take care of the deceased’s estate and their final wishes. And although sending flowers to a funeral is a kind gesture, those flowers add another thing to do for the bereaved. Flowers brighten up any funeral, but what can you do with them after the funeral is over? Here are a few options to either keep and create a memorial keepsake or donate them and make someone else’s day.

When you lose a loved one, it’s hard to go back to everyday life. Things don’t feel normal. It can be hard to come to terms with them not being around, not just for the big moments but for the little things. You miss picking up the phone and hearing them at the other end. You miss how their famous dishes smelled or how they used to laugh so hard at their favorite movie. You miss them just being around.

Sometimes death comes at the end of a long and arduous struggle with illness, addiction, or mental illness. Often, there is relief. Not always, because with grief none of the many emotions that people feel is something everyone feels, but sometimes mourners feel relief. Relief the pain and struggle have come to an end.

For most folks, as they approach middle age, they experience moments when they question their preparedness for the end of life. Am I saving enough for my retirement? How do I expect my retirement to look and feel? When I die will I be buried or cremated? Will my funeral service be faith based, a celebration of my life or maybe a little of each? These thoughts naturally come about as we reach the age where we experience the death of our parents and sometimes even the death of some of our peers.