Can’t Make it to The Funeral? Here Are 10 Ways You Can Still Participate.

Whether it’s time, distance, cost, or the dreaded virus that currently plagues us, there are many perfectly valid reasons you might not be able to attend a funeral service. Or sometimes there is simply no service or the family requests no visitation besides immediate family. This is understandable and should be respected, but one can still support the grieving survivors in other ways.

When one cannot attend a funeral, for whatever reason, he or she can still celebrate the deceased’s life by remembering the relative or friend in ways that the family will cherish.

Here are a few ideas:

1. Send flowers, a dish garden or a green houseplant. A traditional gesture, plants are always an appropriate gift that will live on as memories of the deceased are held in the loved ones’ hearts. 
2. Write a letter with thoughts and perhaps share a good memory or photo of their loved one.
3. Visit the family just to take some prepared food. They’re going through a lot, and cooking shouldn’t have to be another concern of theirs.
4. Take photos of the deceased and make a mini photo album or a scrapbook to provide to the family.
5. Send a pretty or personalized card to the grief-stricken with a few kind words of love and support.
6. Donate money to help the family in need for them to pay for expenses related to the illness of the deceased or the funeral and whatever else they need it for.
7. Visit the family member or friend not long after the death happens. In fact, after about a month or two seems to work well.
8. Call them and leave a message if need be. Even if he or she does not answer his phone, he will hear the message and know that he is cared about.
9. Cook a meal in their home so that they do not have to do so. Plan it out and contact the people to organize it.
10. If the survivors have children, offer to babysit for a couple of hours or more. This can let the parents destress as well as encourage them to grieve, which is much needed by most.

Final Thoughts

Even if you cannot attend a funeral, there are many ways you can still participate in the remembering of a loved one. Do you have other ideas to support the grieving? Please leave them in the comment section below!