Jenny Miller, Social Media Editor

What is a freelance editor/writer doing on a website devoted to helping you plan and understand funerals? I’m fascinated by the culture surrounding our American way of death—taboos, practices, beliefs, myths, regulations—and I want to help others understand by getting them engaged. Through our website, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media, Funeralwise does just that, and I’m privileged to be a part of the team.

I enjoy dreaming up interesting, unusual, and obscure Facebook posts that may or may not be funeral related. I’ve also written a bit of the website content for Funeralwise; one of my favorites is “10 Natural Ways to Die in Yellowstone.”

On a personal note, I’ve had one of those horribly intimate “engagements” with a sudden, unexpected death when my husband passed on his way home from work. Neither of us had talked about or prepared for our funerals, and aside from writing wills, you might think we expected to live forever. So when I got that call from the ER telling me they couldn’t restart my husband’s heart, I had no idea where to turn. Funeralwise wasn’t around back then; if it had been, I would’ve found tremendous resources to help research what came next, to plan my husband’s memorial service, to understand how to respond to the wonderful people who surrounded me with love and concern.

With the help of Funeralwise, I’m a much-improved comforter when friends are bereaved. I’m also better prepared for my own demise now (and remarried)—I’ve completed a burial plan so my loved ones know how I’d like to be remembered. Encouraging others to do the same is one of our aims at Funeralwise. Have you? If not, do it today.