Funeral Coordinator

Days has passed and the more I feel my calling in being a funeral coordinator.
Beyond the potential amount of money that can be earned *which I have yet to figure out..., I truly feel for everyone who has experienced a death in the family.

The concept of having a funeral coordinator is quite foreign to us Filipinos. Much like how people viewed wedding coordinators in the years back. So lets ask the important question, WHY? Why do you need a funeral coordinator?

With everything that has happened to me and our family, this is what I have surmised.
1. You need a funeral coordinator because you need a person of sound mind and heart to assist you in the decisions you have to make for the funeral.

2. You need a funeral coordinator because you need a person who will safeguard and protect your welfare from numerous people who take advantage of your grief and disorientation.

3. You need a funeral coordinator because you need a person who will guide you through the processes of death to the wake to the interment.


I remember that last few minutes of my dad, all the nurses were running around like headless chickens figuring out why they couldn't get his BP. Until finally they've concluded there was no more pulse. Time of Death 4:09 AM, the doctor said out loud. Then came silence.. a long silence... tears falling.. all i could do was rub my dad's cold feet and over and over again I whispered I Love You Dad.. I Love You Dad.... We were all at a loss... what now? what do we do now? My mom and I staring at blank space. Our minds floating in the air as if time has stopped and the world is moving in slow-mo.. or maybe it was because we were not moving at all..

My sister arrived and the OC that she is, she kept telling the nurse and doctors what happened? what else can we do? ganun na lang yun? wala na ba tayong magagawa pa? wala na ba kayong gagawin pa? she was practically harassing them.. Well, I can't blame her.. my sister has done everything she could in the last three months and why wouldn't she do the same on the last hour.. Just to calm her down, I had to tell her definitively "Wala na ate jack. Wala na si Dad. It's done". Tears again...

The doctors say you need to wait 45 minutes before they move the body. Silence again.......
It was like we were all in a trance or in tagalog.. tulala.. I thought to myself.. Pano ba ang mamatayan? Ano ba ang ginagawa pag ikaw ay namatayan?

You get blown by the wind and you just flow.. you don't even know where you're going..

Barely an hour and a half from my "tulala" self and just right after the Private Nurse asked permission to leave, my mother tells me the cash money I gave her the night before is missing. In all our "kaguluhan" we were not able to secure her bag.. Then I checked my bag, and my cash was gone toooooo!!!!!!! The part that's even more frustrating is that where our bags are placed are inside the room where only the Private Nurse and Close Family can go to.. So either we all stole from each other (which would be pointless) or the Private Nurse did it! waaaaaaaaaaa..........
My tears of loss is now turned into anger! How can people do that? In the middle of your grief, they steal from you??? WTF!

Just right there in that moment, I knew the cheaters, swindlers and victimizers of the world makes no exemptions in death. In fact they probably celebrate your loss and vulnerability for its their perfect time to attack and the worst part is sometimes you wouldn't even know they already duped you.

Sorry to sound so negative, but its really the sad truth. From hospitals, to memorial services even florists and other suppliers.

Don't get me wrong I'm not saying everyone is like that, but I'm saying if you don't have a funeral coordinator of sound mind and heart, you just might end up with the cheaters.

I hope you got something out of my post.
It sure makes me feel better writing about it.

I am a work-in-progress.
I can sense, my calling for funeral coordination can go leaps and bounds.

I'll write more of my learnings in the days to come.