This won’t be your cookie-cutter Valentine’s Day blog post, with tips on how to connect with families or advice for helping people grieve. For all of the frivolous ways to view the annual day of love, there are some underlying lessons that never get their due attention. One, in particular, that we can learn from funeral directors and those in the death care profession, must be noted. This industry has some of the most helpful, selfless and compassionate people around – so there is no better example for spreading love and dealing with grief all year round. Not just at otherwise “special” times.
While surely love and grief are heightened by calendar dates designated for time with those we hold dear, these days have done a great disservice and trained us to schedule our feelings. Yes, reserving time for family and reflection are needed parts of our usually busy lives. But, what about the other days – do love and grief just stop existing? With great certainty, I can tell you they do not.
For those who have lost someone special, someone they love, grief lingers on February 13 and February 15 – just as it does today and every other day, for that matter. Collectively, we need to stop treating these days as if they are designated days to love or grieve. Instead, we should all take one out of the funeral director’s playbook and never take a break from spreading love or dealing with grief.
Funeral directors do not take breaks from helping people and serving communities. They do not choose special days to reach out to families or to be there for those who need support through difficult times. The wonderful men and women who work in this industry have a unique way of helping people before, during and after they have been cared for by the funeral home. We would all benefit from learning to care for, love and support others constantly.
Now, no one is saying that you need to write your loved ones cards, poems or send them flowers every week. This lesson goes deeper than that. But whether it is Valentine’s Day or Christmas, there are people around you who have gone through loss, need some extra support or could benefit from a little love.
If nothing else, we can all learn from funeral directors and how they treat other people, all the time. Don’t wait for Valentine’s Day to tell someone you love them. Don’t tell someone you are sorry for their loss, just because it is a holiday. Do these things with each opportunity that you are presented with. Like I said before, there is no better example of this than people who wake up with the purpose of serving and helping others.
At FrontRunner, we are humbled to work with so many of these people and learn from them everyday. There is simply nothing more inspiring. It is what keeps us working so hard.
To all of our clients and those in the funeral profession, we wish you a Happy Valentine’s Day, from the FrontRunner family. Thank you for teaching us what it means to care every single day.
Brandon is the Marketing Communications Manager at FrontRunner Professional. He holds a Social Sciences degree from McMaster University and a Graduate Certificate in Integrated Marketing Communications from St. Lawrence College. His creative writing and innovative ideas bring new life to the company, FrontRunner’s clients and funeral directors world-wide.
