Care and Visitation
To Honour | To Remember | To Heal.
Exceptional care for tender farewells
Knowing that your loved one is in the best possible care, and that opportunities are there for you to spend time with them before the funeral are important parts of coming to terms with what has happened when someone dies.
Visitation
The internationally respected author and grief educator, Dr. Alan D. Wolfelt Ph.D believes that being able to spend time with the deceased before the funeral ceremony is an important opportunity for those left behind. Visitation is a chance to acknowledge the reality of the death and say final goodbyes. Whether the casket is open or closed, being with it gives friends and family members the privilege of spending time with the person who died.
Often people may say that their loved one ‘didn’t want a fuss’, but the reality is that being able to be with the deceased, even briefly, is about supporting the grieving process of the living.
We can help you bring your loved one home before the funeral. Alternatively, we also have serene and private family rooms where you can spend time with your loved one if bringing them home is not an option.
Care of the deceased
We care for the deceased with the utmost dignity and respect, and we do all we can to help meet the wishes of those left behind. The time after death is profound for those left behind. The way this period is navigated can have a significant bearing on the way people can acknowledge their loss and start the process of grieving.
We see our role as more than attending to practicalities required at the time of death. We believe that we offer the support and services needed to help families say their goodbyes to their loved one in a way that honours that person’s life and helps the living start to process their grief.
The choices made in how we care for the deceased are key. We want to enable family to have time with their loved one after death Our care includes washing and dressing them, and any cosmetic care such as hair and makeup. Providing favoured clothing of your loved one, or items they requested they be dressed in, and also any notes or photographs showing how they wore their hair, can help us provide the best possible care. In most cases, you are able to wash and dress your loved one with us, if you so wish. We have beautiful natural flower waters and aromatic oils that you can use if you wish.
We offer embalming, and while we do not insist on this, we do recommend it as a way of creating time for family to gather, and arrangements to be made. We have written a blog on embalming to help allay any misconceptions about the process.
We work with families from many different cultural backgrounds and can accommodate the needs of different religious and cultural beliefs.
