Alexander & Houle Funeral Home

01/15/2026

01/15/2026

How is my prepaid money protected.....

Ontario law protects your prepaid money in several ways.....
When you prepay, your Provider must give you a contract that states the total amount of money you have paid to date and the terms of payment for any balance you owe.
If you have prepaid with a funeral establishment for funeral supplies and services, or a transfer service for transfer supplies and services, your money is protected by a compensation fund which is used to return money to consumers if, in rare cases, their prepaid money is not available when needed. The fund will cover losses only if you prepaid with a licensed funeral establishment or transfer service.
The Provider is required by law to choose only safe investments for prepaid trust funds.
You are entitled to ask your Provider at least once each year where and how the money is invested and how much money you have in your trust account.

Send a message to learn more

01/14/2026

Why Is Planning Ahead a Good Idea?

Pre-planning can save your family and friends from having to make many difficult decisions during a very difficult time. Planning ahead also gives you a say in your own arrangements, assessing and comparing your options and may help reduce or eliminate the financial burden on your family.

It’s important to discuss your final wishes with your family members, friends or your estate trustee as the person named in your Will to handle your affairs can change your plans at the time of your death.

How Is My Prepaid Money Protected?
Ontario law protects your prepaid money in several ways
When you prepay, your Provider must give you a contract that states the total amount of money you have paid to date and the terms of payment for any balance you owe.
If you have prepaid with a funeral establishment for funeral supplies and services, or a transfer service for transfer supplies and services, your money is protected by a compensation fund which is used to return money to consumers if, in rare cases, their prepaid money is not available when needed. The fund will cover losses only if you prepaid with a licensed funeral establishment or transfer service.
The Provider is required by law to choose only safe investments for prepaid trust funds.
You are entitled to ask your Provider at least once each year where and how the money is invested and how much money you have in your trust account.

01/14/2026

01/14/2026

I’ve come to believe that some souls simply aren’t meant to stay here long.

And I don’t say that lightly.

It’s not something I understand in any earthly way, because truthfully, I don’t.

There’s no logic that can explain why someone we love so deeply could be here one day and gone the next. If there’s a reason, I wish I knew it.

But I don’t.

What I do believe is that we’re each sent here to touch certain lives. To love certain people. To leave imprints that carry on long after we’re gone.

Maybe our time, no matter how painfully short or unexpectedly brief, isn’t measured in years but in the depth of love we give and the connections we make.

I’ve seen how a single person, even one who has left this world far too soon, can change everything for those they loved. The ripple of their kindness, their laughter, their very presence, it never really disappears. It lingers in every person they touched, in quiet moments of memory, in the ways we love others because of how they loved us.

Here’s the thing…maybe that was their purpose.

Maybe that was their gift.

Still…knowing that doesn’t erase the pain I still feel every day. It doesn’t fill the space they left behind. Because the missing never fully goes away.

But sometimes, I can still feel the love. Like they’re whispering to me, “I did what I came here to do and I left my love with you.”

And that’s enough for me now. To hold onto the idea that their time, no matter how brief, was important and special. That the love wasn’t taken away, it only transformed.

That even though they couldn’t stay, that gift of love they gave me will continue to grow for as long as I live.

In many ways, I feel like that love is still here, because love isn’t something you can touch and hold in your hand. It’s a feeling.

And it’s still here…moving through my heart.

Gary Sturgis – Surviving Grief

01/07/2026

Grief can feel like you’re living on a roller-coaster you never asked to board.

One moment you’re coasting along, feeling almost steady, maybe even glimpsing a bit of peace, and the next, you’re plunging down into a place that feels all too familiar.

The highs can be fleeting, while the lows seem to overstay their welcome, showing up uninvited just when you thought you were finding your footing again.

Most people assume healing from loss is a straight road, walk long enough, and you’ll get there.

But those of us who’ve lived it know better. It’s more like walking through quicksand while trying to follow a map someone gave you depicting a foreign land.

You might have a good day, laugh again, even feel light for a moment, and then, bam, a memory, a scent, a quiet evening alone, and suddenly it’s three steps back into the ache you thought you’d already outgrown.

It’s frustrating…isn’t it?

It makes you start to wonder if you’re doing something wrong.

Here’s the thing…you’re not!

Grief doesn’t care much about schedules or progress charts. It comes and goes, sometimes with gentle waves, other times with a force that knocks you flat. But each time you get back up, each time you take another shaky step, you’re moving toward healing.

Even if it doesn’t feel like it.

The truth is, those so-called ‘steps back’ aren’t failures. They’re proof that love still lives in you. That the connection you had still echoes through your heart. You wouldn’t feel this deeply if it hadn’t meant something extraordinary.

And while it’s maddening that the lows linger, they don’t erase the moments of light that slowly begin to return.

One day, those highs will last a little longer. The lows will soften, showing up less as enemies and more as reminders of how far you’ve come. It won’t happen all at once, but it will happen, quietly, steadily.

So keep stepping forward, even if your path feels crooked.

Healing isn’t about walking in a straight line…it’s about daring to keep walking at all.

Gary Sturgis – Surviving Grief

01/06/2026

Don't Forget to Care for the "Care"Giver.....

Life has changed in an instance, a diagnosis has reveled how the next days, weeks, months, or even years of will progress and how this diagnosis will effect every aspect of your life and relationships, and care needed along the way. The role of wife, husband, son, daughter, etc now becomes one of 'caregiver".

12/29/2025

It’s that time again…when calendars get replaced, confetti gets thrown, and everyone decides they’re going to start jogging, eat healthy, and become a better version of themselves.

Meanwhile, those of us who are grieving are just trying to make it to midnight without falling apart.

The New Year hits differently when you’ve lost someone you love. No countdown can prepare you for the ache of realizing that you’re stepping into a year they’ll never see.

It’s like walking through a door you can’t hold open for them, and that quiet, invisible truth sits deep in your chest. Everyone’s celebrating beginnings, but you can’t help but feel the sharpness of endings.

As the world toasts to new adventures, your heart might whisper, “How can I move forward when they can’t come with me?”

Here’s the thing…that’s the hard part about time, it keeps moving, no matter how much we want to stay still for a while.

I used to think that meant I was leaving them behind. But over the years, I’ve come to realize that time doesn’t take them away, it just carries their love differently.

Every laugh that slips out when you didn’t expect it, every tiny thing that reminds you of them, every tear that falls when the countdown starts, they’re all quiet ways love stays.

So maybe this year, the resolution isn’t about starting over. Maybe it’s about carrying forward.

Maybe it’s about allowing some light back in, even when you’re still figuring out how to live in the dark.

And if your plans for New Year’s Eve involve pajamas, tissues, and skipping the ball drop altogether, you’re in good company.

Grief doesn’t follow the calendar, and healing doesn’t clock in at midnight. Whether you step boldly into the new year or quietly tiptoe, do it in your own time.

Because love doesn’t end at December 31st.

It travels with you…into every year that comes after.

Gary Sturgis – Surviving Grief

12/25/2025

Merry Christmas from our family to yours! May Peace and Joy fill the coming year.
Sincerely, Dan & Anne Houle, & our staff at the Alexander & Houle Funeral Home.

12/22/2025

“Be strong enough to stand on your own two feet, but wise enough to know when to ask for help.”
― Frank Sonnenberg, The Path to a Meaningful Life

12/22/2025

Just a simple reminder. ❤