How many of you know a person that falls into the category of being an ORGANIZER? This person is the go-to person when organizing a party, a reunion and even the big weddings. This person may be a friend or a relative who when they are invited over heads straight to your closet or cupboard to start organizing items by size, color or expiration dates. Okay, this person knows the benefits of planning early. They have that check-off sheet of things to do and get accomplished before you even walk out the door. For the topic of this article, we will touch on a subject near and dear to those organizers, “Pre-Planning”.

Today the Arcadia Rotary was honored to have as the guest speaker Mr. Daniel K. Thomas from Forest Lawn. With a little background on Mr. Thomas, he held the position as Past president for the Pomona Rotary. He has been with Forest Lawn for approximately 24 year and has held several manager positions in the training field. Mr. Thomas currently holds the position of Vice President Advance Planning for Forrest Lawn.

Here are a couple of questions for all of you. What are some of the issues that go through your mind when you think of funeral services? For most of us, what jumps out first is Cost. How much will it all cost to just put me into the ground? For some it is the actual process of organizing the services. We all have heard or experienced situations when a loved one has passed, and the next phase is total chaos. The death caught everyone off guard, nothing was planned, no one knows where or who to talk to. The chaos took front and center leaving the loss of the loved one sitting on the back burner.

To avoid the Chaos, ask yourself what do you want? If you are not aware, there are options for you to choose from. Some of your choices may be based on your religious beliefs, cultural traditions, or just you own personal wants. By sitting down with both your family and a representative from Forest Lawn, you can make your wants known. You may want instead of flowers, contributions made to your favorite charity. You may want a small service of just family members, or you may want everyone to come wearing bright vibrant colors instead of black. You may control those in attendance by having the list of invites already prepared as shown in the video presentation by Mr. Thomas. You have the control to help ease and possibly eliminate chaos for those individuals who are mourning your passing.

Peace of mind. Today there are so many things that are being thrown onto our plates. Some things we can control, others are totally out of our control. This could be one of those things that you can take charge of and relieve your family of the burden. As was stated earlier, you can organize how you want to be remembered. Bottom line it is probably the responsible thing you can do.

David Muse

Note: Forest Lawn has been a Proud sponsor for the Field of Honor for many years.