As a caregiver, I see many elderly people who pass away and whose families struggle to pay for their final expenses. Yet, at most of the funerals there are hundreds of dollars worth of flowers, which are given by friends and family. Would it not make more sense, in tough economic times such as these, for a monetary donation in honor of the deceased to be made to the family instead of flowers? The funeral homes could state in the obituary that “the family requests monetary donations instead of flowers.”

Margarie Wheeler
Decatur County