Funeral Planning While Grieving
His father just died. He’s numb, exhausted, and still the one everyone looks to for “what happens now?”
Immediate load:
- Contact funeral home
- Decide on burial/cremation
- Talk to priest/celebrant
- Coordinate obituary
- Notify relatives and friends
- Sort clothes, photos, music
- Deal with costs
Without TabStax
He’s doing all this out of his head and phone: calls, emails, half-open tabs on funeral packages, a note somewhere with the priest’s number. Every “small” thing feels huge because he has to remember it and do it and feel it.
With TabStax
He quietly creates “Dad – Funeral & Farewell” Stax:
Tabs:
- Funeral home website / email thread
- Ceremony details with priest/celebrant
- A Google Doc: “Decisions” (date, place, readings, speakers)
- A folder of photos for slideshow / printed boards
- Obituary draft
- A notes doc for “Who to call / message”
Start Page:
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A simple, gentle checklist:
- “Today: Confirm date & time.”
- “Choose 3 photos for obituary.”
- “Ask X if they want to say something.”
He shares this Stax with one sibling and maybe a close cousin:
- They can help fill in names, draft the obituary, pick music.
- They can own some calls, because they can see the decisions and contacts.
He doesn’t need to hold the whole thing in his head. He opens the Stax, does the next piece, closes it when his brain can’t carry more.
The grief is still raw. TabStax just reduces the administrative cruelty layered on top.