Streiff’s glass front niche in the Forest Lawn Mausoleum, complete with urns and memorabilia, that reflects their lives and interests.
When Jamie Streiff’s husband asked what she wanted for her birthday, he was surprised by her answer. “I told him I wanted the two of us to get our plans in order,” she said. While it wasn’t quite the gift he had in mind, they did sit down and finalize the details of their pre-arrangement plans together – down to their songs and selection of urns. Hers is a blown-glass, teardrop heart and his is a super-sized shotgun shell.
A funeral and cemetery counselor for more than 10 years, Streiff will tell you that request was not only a birthday gift for herself, but the best gift they could give their daughters. Pre-planning is a gift of love, she says, and it allows people to make decisions that reflect their own wishes and preferences, before they would ever need to use them. When the time comes, it ensures children and other loved ones are free from the burden of making all these decisions during a stressful time when they’re grieving their loss.
“Leave them the answers.”
It’s a phrase you’ll hear Streiff and the other funeral and cemetery counselors at Forest Lawn use when talking about pre-planning. At its core, that’s what pre-arrangement planning is, providing people with the answers to questions that people used to not want to talk about.
In recent years, Forest Lawn has seen this thinking begin to change as more people become interested in pre-planning. They are also seeing people making their arrangements at a younger age, when the conversation is not a discussion about death and dying. It’s more about peace of mind knowing their plan is ready and paid for before it’s needed.
Pre-arrangement planning also provides financial advantages, including the ability to lock in current costs that increase over time, choose affordable monthly payment and benefit from special pricing or incentives that a full-service facility like Forest Lawn is able to offer.
Everything, all in one place – including four-legged family members
When Forest Lawn was founded more than 140 years ago, it was only a cemetery and crematory. Today, it has a large funeral home, mausoleum and its cemetery is recognized as one of the region’s most beautiful. It is also home to Forever Friends Pet Cemetery, the area’s only cemetery devoted to animals of all species – to ensure that even four-legged family members have a plan in place.
This convenience of everything all in one place is important as people consider their arrangements. “People come in with one thing in mind and leave with options they didn’t know they had,” Streiff said. “My greatest reward is helping families navigate these moments and hearing them say, ‘thank you, you made this entire process seamless.’”
Jamie Streiff, Forest Lawn Funeral and Cemetery Counselor