Often, when a family decides to delay a service, it never happens – and families are at risk for what one funeral director calls “unembarked grief.” He writes, “When no ceremony is held, mourning is never properly initiated. It can create a terrible, never-ending limbo for these families, especially the primary mourner . . . [They] have a much harder time fully acknowledging the reality of death, which is the linchpin need of mourning. They also don’t receive the crucial public affirmation and social support that a funeral provides.”