Final wishes plan helps ease funeral pain

A PELICAN Waters woman has created a unique way for people to share final wishes with loved ones, to help ease the pain of funeral planning.

My Wishes Are is a unique way for people to share their final wishes with loved ones, in the hope of easing the pain of funeral planning.

A PELICAN Waters woman has created a unique way for people to share their final wishes with loved ones, in the hope of easing the pain of funeral planning.

After her mother’s death in 2016, Jenny Lenkeith, 51, realised they had never discussed funeral arrangements or where her mum wanted her ashes spread.

Inspired by this experience, Ms Lenkeith created the website My Wishes Are, which enables people to leave detailed funeral directions and final wishes for their loved ones.

She said she and her family had been left struggling to agree on how to plan her mother’s funeral, make important decisions and honour her memory.

“From then on, our family was never the same and it was just a really difficult time,” she said.

Jenny Lenkeith has started the My Wishes Are online business.

Ms Lenkeith said that even today, she still struggled coming to terms with the fact she could never be sure if the choices they made were the right ones.

“My dad passed in 2003 and mum had his ashes at her house until she passed away,” Ms Lenkeith said.

“There were four of us involved in planning mum’s funeral and we didn’t know what they wanted done with their ashes, so we had to make that decision, and I still don’t know if the decision we made, where we buried their ashes, is what they wanted.”

She hopes My Wishes Are will help other people have the conversations that most of us don’t think about until it is too late.

The service allows anyone to fill out what Ms Lenkeith calls a “digital wish list” which can then be sent to up to five recipients.

The questions range from the kind of flowers at the funeral, pallbearers and who to invite, to whether the individual wants to be buried or cremated, and where they want their ashes spread.

As well as funeral planning, questions cover what will become of pets, how belongings are to be distributed — anything that doesn’t quite fit into a will, and often weren’t asked early enough by family members.

The service is not legally binding, and the only people who have access to an individual’s wishes are the chosen recipients, who can be updated at any time.

“It’s just all about those questions that are really hard to ask and alleviate the pain in a time that’s really emotional and really difficult,” Ms Lenkeith said.

Visit https://www.mywishesare.com.au/