Taking Care of the Family after a Death

In and after the funeral process at Burtonsville, MD funeral homes, it is sometimes easy to forget how emotionally draining the death of a loved one is on the family. The family loses its energy reserves and hits total exhaustion quickly. Because of this, the family’s basic needs may seem just too hard for them to meet. But there are ways that you can pitch in and help so that they can be healthy and well, while staying focused on what they need to do after the death of a loved one.  

Food preparation is usually the last thing on a family’s mind after the death of a loved one. Often, some members of the family will just lose their appetite and not feel like eating at all. One of the ways you can help is to enlist friends of the family and start a daily food/meal delivery service for the family immediately after the death of their loved one and continue it for a couple of weeks after the burial. Food deliveries can range from a fast-food chicken dinner to casseroles, stews, salads, and veggies. Don’t forget to include bottled water and juices to drink as well.  

Keep a cooler with ice and a box on the front porch of the family’s home so that people can deliver their food without disturbing the family. This is an incredible way to take care of a family after the death of a loved one.  

Another way to take care of the family after a death, especially before the funeral, is to offer to run errands for what the family will need for the funeral. This may include picking up dry cleaning, getting groceries, or getting cars serviced and/or washed. There are many details involved with funerals that the family will get overwhelmed quickly. By helping the family with errands, you take some of those details off of their plates, so they can focus on the more important aspects they need to deal with.  

A third way to take care of the family after a death is to offer your services around the home. If it’s the summer time, the grass may need to be mowed. Often, family will be coming in from out of town and staying at the family home, which will generate a lot of dishes, more dirt and messiness, and a lot of laundry. By offering the family appointment times when you can drop by to help them with these things, which may seem minor, but they are not, you can help keep their stress levels at a more manageable level than they would be otherwise.  

There are many more ways that you can take of the family after a death. Enlist a group of friends and you will be giving the family a gift that is priceless.  

If you want more ideas on how to take care of the family after a death at Burtonsville, MD funeral homes, our experienced staff at Donald V. Borgwardt Funeral Home, P.A. can help you. Visit with us at our funeral home at 4400 Powder Mill Rd., Beltsville, MD, 20705, or call us today at (301) 937-1707.