Making Good Decisions While Grieving

While pre-planning your own funeral, you may have hit a roadblock when trying to decide what inscription you want on your headstone. Since future generations will see the inscription for years to come, you want it to say something memorable that represents who you were when you were living. If you are having problems, use the following tips to help you when choosing what to say on your headstone.

1.  Avoid Using Overdone Phrases

If your main goal is to make your headstone's inscription memorable, you want it to stand out by having something different. To ensure this happens, avoid using overdone phrases that seem to appear on every other headstone in the cemetery.

While writings such as "in loving memory" or "beloved father/mother, son/daughter" can be heartwarming for the most part, they are used too often for them to really be memorable. If the first phrases you think of come from countless headstones you have seen, you may want to scrap those ideas in favor of unique ones.

2.  Turn to Your Favorite Media for Ideas

Once you have discarded overdone phrases, you should try to think of something that defines who you are as a person. Unless you have a favorite catchphrase that you have used for years, you may want to turn to other sources for something that matches your personality.

Sit down and think about all of your favorite books, poems, movies, and music. Ask yourself whether there is a line from a book or poem that seems to capture your spirit. Or, think about a movie line that defines you or lyrics from a song that seems to represent your life. 

Write down all possibilities and read them over to see if anything pops out at you. And, do not be afraid to use something with some humor in it, especially if you were always known as a comedian. If you use a funny line from a movie on your headstone, you just may make a visitor or passerby smile when they visit your grave.

When selecting the words for your headstone, you are picking an inscription to memorialize your life and act as your final words to the world. If you are having problems coming up with just the right thing to say, speak with the director at the funeral home through which you are making your plans to see if they have any guidance to give to you. To order your headstone in advance, contact a company like Pemi-Baker Memorials.