During a time of grievance, from the beginning, I felt like we were an inconvenience to the funeral home staff with our questions, concerns, and requests for my late-grandfather's service. There's much to take into consideration during these times, so that it's not solely emotional rather, objective. I'm a first generation Vietnamese American, helping my father bury his father and here was our family's experience through my words.
The morning of the funeral, our family went to the funeral home to say our last goodbyes before they close the casket. My family members witnessed our funeral home director, Liz, having a lot of attitude towards our family requests. We have a tradition in our culture, like most cultures, to mourn the dead in a way that is filled with love. Liz seemed to be in a rush in my encounters, spoke in a way that came off as if we were a bother. Again, this is just our experience. I can understand that this is not an easy job but being kind and empathetic should not be that hard. It's also not an easy thing to post a review like this but someone has to say something about the lack of empathy we felt as a family who is trying to make the wishes of our late family member be heard. I hope that sharing this review, improvements are made or at least a follow up from the funeral home.
One of our requests was a police escort from the funeral home to the church. On the morning of, I learned that it was not communicated to my father nor was it mentioned until I had asked a gentleman named Paul, I believe. He had informed me that the PD station was short-staffed and they could not accommodate our request. Again, this was told on the morning of, while we were processing out of the funeral home. Generally, the rules of the road are understood, but we can't assume everyone knows. On the way, we were cut off by multiple cars, something we should not have to deal with. Again, if this was communicated in advance, fine.. but it was not so it was very unprofessional and disappointing.
When a loved one passes, you just hope that the people who are taking care of the services show up with empathy, compassion, and care. We did not feel that at all. Again, this is just our family's experience through my words and I hope that no other family has to experience this... but instead, a professional, sensitive, and caring staff. Thanks for reading. read more
