What are your final resting place plans?

[mnhtnbb]

We buried our still born daughter 21 years ago in St. Joseph, MO.

Five years later, we moved away from the town (to Lincoln, NE)

In 2000 we moved to Chapel Hill, NC and hubby and I figure this is our final location.

I have started to look into moving our daughter here and making arrangements for hubby
and myself. I thought I would just choose the local cemetery, but I just discovered
what is called an Eco Eternity Forest tonight--and there happens to be one about 30 minutes away from
here. It is for ashes only, but you can put up to 15 family members, including pets, next to a tree.

Has anyone done anything like this?

[Tom_Foolery]

1. Cremated...

Ashes placed in a coffee can, and buried in my mother's grave.

[elocs]

47. Some years ago I cleaned out the house of a friend's father who had died.

On a shelf I found a mason jar and in it were Uncle Harry's ashes. What to do, what to do?

Well it was March and they put sod over the grave of my friend's dad so I just went and lifted up one edge of it and poured Uncle Harry in to join his brother.

I think that worked out nicely.

[Tom_Foolery]

59. I would have done that, too.

[one_voice]

2. Cremation..

for both me and the hubby.

I don't want any kind of funeral, or viewing, just burn baby burn. My kids can do what they want with my ashes. Not like I'll know the difference,

I don't want my kids/family going through the drama of the whole funeral thing. And I sure as hell don't want them sitting in a cemetery visiting me.

Though the Eco Eternity Forest thing sounds pretty cool, I'm going to look into that.

[mnhtnbb]

5. Here's the link

http://www.ecoeternity.com/

[one_voice]

15. Thanks.

[tblue]

10. Same for me, but my hubby wants to do the casket thing.

No worms for me, nope.

[miscsoc]

3. going to go hunter s thompson style

ashes fired out of a cannon, iirc.

[GreenPartyVoter]

4. Cremated, family plot.

[annabanana]

72. Ditto for me & Mr. Banana. . . .n/t

[nickinSTL]

be nice if there was an "other"

I've been seriously thinking lately about donating my body to the "Body Farm".

I'm a big fan of forensic sciences and am not in the least disturbed by the idea of my body being poked and prodded and studied after I'm gone.

[liberaltrucker]

6. I'll be dead, so it doesn't matter

Hanging from a tree for the vultures
or buried in a gold coffin, it doesn't
matter. I'll be dead.

[WCGreen]

7. Dust in the wind....

[Duer 157099]

8. What about this idea

Cremation, and then make a list of all the places in the world that I would have liked to have visited but was unable.

And then request that my son scatter a bit of my ashes at each place.

Just to make *him* go to those places.

Is that evil?

[SoxFan]

9. Stuffed

[tblue]

11. My dad prepaid his & mom's cremation, funeral, everything

including the limo for the family to ride to the service. It's the kindest, most generous, thoughtful thing anyone could ever do for their family.

[Doc_Technical]

12. I've arranged for cremation,

then have my ashes scattered at sea while
they play this song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9n10yDX8N3o&feature=related

[cbayer]

13. Cremation and burial at sea.

:hi:

[Kali]

14. my family is probably too squeamish to do what I would really want

so probably cremation and scattered here on the ranch

I did 2 home births and am intrigued by home burial prep and burial here, but doubt any of them could handle it. I really like the idea of a final FU to a socially "mandatory" corporate $$$grubbing industry.

[Xithras]

62. The real problem with home burials in the U.S.,,

...is that we're a highly mobile society, and it's very rare for a family to own a particular piece of land for more than a couple of generations.

What happens if your kids want to sell the land 15 years after you kick the bucket?

[Kali]

116. they are the 5th generation here

probably not a concern ;-) (and I'd be dead so bottom line is it really doesn't matter)

[YankeyMCC]

16. My suggestion

is for the doctors to take whatever is left that might be useful as transplant or research, educational material. Take whatever is left over, burn it and spread my ashes somewhere in the White Mountains, My Lafayette, or somewhere in Franconia Notch I think would be good.

I started this with "my suggestion" because who ever is left of my love ones to bury me should do whatever makes them happiest, I'm not going to care.

[Dulcinea]

43. Same here.

I'm an organ donor, so the doctors can have anything they can use to help others or for research. Cremate whatever's left & scatter it over the Upper Allegheny River in western PA, the place I have always found peace.

[baldguy]

17. Soylent Green is my favorite color.

nom nom nom

[Sanity Claws]

18. You are a great example

Good for you to think of these end of life issues now.

While you are thinking of them, discuss advance directives, health care proxies and organ donation issues. BTW, I do volunteer work for the organ donation network. Families are too upset to decide these issues at the time the issues come up.

[mike_c]

19. the compost pile....

Actually, probably cremation if I can find someone who wants the ashes. But really, as long as I'm dead, I don't give a damn what happens to the meat.

[quakerboy]

20. Other

I want to be well cremated. Then I want to be placed in an elaborate, difficult to open Chinese puzzle box with a gold coin. Then I want a family member to find me somewhere out of the way where i might sit unmolested for a while, but where I am likely to eventually be found by a stranger.

That way, even dead, someone will eventually be happy to see me again.

Barring that, I want to be disposed of. Don't really care where. They can burn me, mix me with some putty and make a sculpture, they can dump me in some water, they can mix me into some cheap commercial bread to save 13 cents on ingredients. They can have a BBQ, they can toss me in to feed some wolves at the wolf sanctuary, or they can toss me off into the great trash isle in the pacific, whole or burnt. Its all the same to me at that point.

The only thing I require is that I do NOT have a final resting place, taking up space, useless, for as long as society can arrange it.

[MiddleFingerMom]

21. A friend of mine in the Army...

.
...grew up in a family funeral home business in Washington state.
One extremely wealthy old man had stipulated in his will that the
person getting the bulk of his wealth had to have him encased in
Lucite sitting in a chair and greeting all visitors in the Grand
Entranceway of his mansion.
.
Luckily, it was illegal and the heir didn't have to go along with it.
.
I have no idea exactly WHAT color it is... but I wouldn't mind
going out as Soylent Mauve.
.
I couldn't find a recording of it, but on "Precious Friend" a
double-live album with Arlo Guthrie, Pete Seeger sings "Inch by
Inch" and in the middle recites a little poem/song by someone else
about putting him on the compost heap and fertilizing the garden
with him. After enjoying the bounty of that garden, Pete encouraged
the listener to "...then excrete me with a grin, chortling 'There
goes good ol' Pete ag'in'".
.

[Kali]

25. ...

Reincarnation

"What does Reincarnation mean?"
A cowpoke asked his friend.
His pal replied, "It happens when
Yer life has reached its end.
They comb yer hair, and warsh yer neck,
And clean yer fingernails,
And lay you in a padded box
Away from life's travails."

"The box and you goes in a hole,
That's been dug into the ground.
Reincarnation starts in when
Yore planted 'neath a mound.
Them clods melt down, just like yer box,
And you who is inside.
And then yore just beginnin' on
Yer transformation ride."

"In a while, the grass'll grow
Upon yer rendered mound.
Till some day on yer moldered grave
A lonely flower is found.
And say a hoss should wander by
And graze upon this flower
That once wuz you, but now's become
Yer vegetative bower."

"The posy that the hoss done ate
Up, with his other feed,
Makes bone, and fat, and muscle
Essential to the steed,
But some is left that he can't use
And so it passes through,
And finally lays upon the ground
This thing, that once wuz you."

"Then say, by chance, I wanders by
And sees this upon the ground,
And I ponders, and I wonders at,
This object that I found.
I thinks of reincarnation,
Of life and death, and such,
And come away concludin': 'Slim,
You ain't changed, all that much.'"

Wally McRae

[MiddleFingerMom]

35. I was SURE that was gonna be...

.
...Baxter Black. Excellent find.
.
..."this thing, that once wuz you."
.
:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
.

[sarge43]

32. Cremation, fedex'ed to Arlington Stone Garden. n/t

[CaliforniaPeggy]

22. Cremation and ashes into the Pacific...

I'll be joining the rest of my family who have passed there...

[Kaleva]

23. Sweeping ashes off a ship

While in the Navy I was sometimes assigned duty as part of the honor guard when doing a burial at sea. One time while the officer in charge was dumping the ashes off the fantail, a gust of wind blew much of it back on the ship. After the ceremony, I and a few other sailors were told to get brooms and sweep the deceased back into the sea.

[Book Lover]

90. That happened to me when I scattered my mother's remains

Never expected the wind to blow back on me! I knelt down and quickly removed my jacket, which is where her ashes landed, then washed it by hand a little later that day with just salt. I like to think of it as my mom's last hug to me.

[greenmutha]

24. If you love the sea, you might want to check this out...

Eternal Reefs, Inc.

http://www.eternalreefs.com/

From their website:

"Eternal Reefs, Inc. creates permanent living legacies that memorialize the passing of a loved one. For families and individuals that choose cremation, Eternal Reefs offers a new memorial choice that replaces cremation urns and ash scattering with a permanent environmental living legacy."

They also have a page on FB:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/eternalreefs?ref=sgm

[WorseBeforeBetter]

28. ...

[GoCubsGo]

86. That's what I'm doing.

Me, the kitties, and any doggies I might ever have, will be watching the fishies for all eternity. Unless my siblings and I decide to do the fireworks thing. I guess you can have your ashes enclosed in a firework to be shot off wherever.

[Dr Morbius]

26. Is there a "not dying would be best" option?

In truth, I'd be dead, so I wouldn't care much. I'd ask my wife if I thought about it much. She is likely to outlive me, so her comfort would be my main concern.

When I was a younger wiseass than I am today, I'd tell people I wanted to be cremated. "Make sure," I told them. :lol:

[petronius]

27. If I get my wish, it'll be straight into the deep ocean as is - no coffin, embalming, or

anything else...

[unpossibles]

29. jump out of an airplane naked with a sign that says

"eat me" and try to aim for a certain Texas homestead....

[old mark]

30. Cremation - there is a PA Cremation Society that does the whole job

for around a thousand bucks. All you have to do is die.

I think I want to be scattered on a PA state Game Land where I enjoy hunting - it is illegal, but what are they going to do to me?

I don't even want any type of funeral, just a party,
and no religious bullshit.

My wife and I have both been near dying several times, so, yeah, we think about it....

m

[Book Lover]

91. Well, not to be a huge pain in the ass

but what they can do is fine your survivors. Just sayin'. Personally I think it's a fine idea...

[name not needed]

31. Viking funeral.

[dropkickpa]

33. Other

All usable spare parts donated for use and the unusable bits mulched. I honestly couldn't give a shit what happens to my body once I'm done with it and the usable bits are doled out. I think most funeral customs are gruesome and creepy as hell. Maybe I'll donate the leftovers to science so there really aren't any leftovers for my family to get stuck fussing with, but I don't know if they'd be usable for anything after being parted out.

[dr.strangelove]

34. Cremation - Ashes at a certain spot special to my family

No official burial or marker, just someone dumping some ashes and the rest getting tossed in the garbage or however the crematorium disposes of these things.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

36. Cremated, but scattering doesn't matter

I've sort of been scattered my whole life.

One more time won't matter.

:hi:

[Pool Hall Ace]

37. First I'm off to med school.

When the med students are done with me, I will be cremated. I would like my ashes to be scattered somewhere in my home state of Maryland (haven't decided exactly where yet).

Oh, and no funeral. I detest all formal occasions, including funerals.

[MajorChode]

38. Cremation, ashes flushed down the toilet

My first thoughts on this were cremation and then dumping my ashes in a river. That way every time someone passed by that river, they would think of me. Then I had an epiphany. People use the toilet several times per day...

[Bertha Venation]

39. cremated, ashes into the Pacific off Huntington Beach, CA n/t

[bikebloke]

40. Tree food

I want to be buried in a cotton shroud or cardboard box, then have a tree planted over top.

[Twillig]

63. That's kinda how murder victims go out, isn't it?

Of course I want to end up dead in a Tiger attack.

In India, not the zoo or circus.

And I have no passport.

[mnhtnbb]

95. That's the concept of these eco forest places, only they inter the

biodegradable box with the ashes at the base of an existing 30-40 year old tree.

Hubby and I are going to look at one of these eco forest places tomorrow that's about 30 minutes
away from us in Chapel Hill.

[tango-tee]

41. Cremation. And my ashes in an urn made of peat,

buried among the old trees in our city cemetery. An unmarked spot.

This is a choice our city has been offering lately and I think it is wonderful. The peat will decompose, the ashes will simply become part of the soil again, and there is no grave anyone will feel compelled to visit once in a blue moon and put supermarket flowers on.

I'll be there somewhere, becoming part of the cycle of life again.

[csziggy]

69. Now that is cool - I'll have to look into peat urns! n/t

[tango-tee]

78. Yes! I think it's a great idea.

I wouldn't want my ashes to sit there in some horrible urn on the mantelpiece, or on a shelf in the garage.

Thinking about this... big spring cleaning... Crash! Bang! Aw shit! There goes Mom! Go get the vacuum cleaner, Hon!

Eff that.

[VenusRising]

42. I will be cremated and put in the urn with my husband along with our wedding rings.

Then, on to the final stop at St. Richard's with the rest of my family.

[Beer Snob-50]

44. my wife and i bought a plot for the four of us

we plan on being cremated and so my wife has offered spots to a couple of her neices. her family is already at that cemetery and so whenever we go to visit them, my youngest son (18 yo) will lay in the spot to try and figure which one of the four he wants.

[Courtesy Flush]

45. Too afraid to bring up the subject

My wife was recently diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. We avoid the subject of death like the plague. That conversation will happen all too soon as it is.

[tainted_chimp]

50. ...

:hug:

I'm so sorry.

[Shell Beau]

52. I'm sorry.

[csziggy]

73. I am so sorry to hear this, but she does need to make decisions

While she can. My sister was diagnosed with aggressive brain cancer in 1992. She quickly made her decisions for her health care directive, health care advocate, burial plans, what would happen to her children and so forth. That was good since after the first operation she began to lose her speech center and soon was unable to really communicate. Her quick action made it so much easier for the entire family. No, nothing made her death easier but there were no recriminations or questioning what her choices might have been since they were right there for the entire family to see.

It is hard and nothing makes it easier, but please get it over with so you and she can put that behind you and leave you free to deal with the time you have.

:hug:

[tango-tee]

83. I'm so sorry...

this thread and our sometimes off-color comments must be horrible to read in your circumstances.

Dear friend, my heart, prayers and good vibes are going out to you and your wife. Never mind what happens, your DU family is here.

Here's a big hug from across the Atlantic for both of you :hug:

[mnhtnbb]

96. I'm so sorry. My favorite aunt--in her 80's--just died early this morning

which is several days after I posted this poll.

Both she and my uncle (91) had already made plans for cremation.

[Fire Walk With Me]

46. I don't care much.

So long as I have a large tombstone with large, jaggedy lettering shouting out "He's behind you!"

[Taverner]

48. Natural Burial

Buried without chemicals, in the forest, in a pine box

I got the idea off of Six Feet Under

[Dappleganger]

49. Remember if you were in the military you get a free place for burial or cremation.

If you're a spouse it's only $300. Just bring the cremains to the Veteran's Memorial of your choice and they'll set it up. YOu'll need a copy of the DD-214 (discharge papers), if not they can look it up for you.

We put my mother in a beautiful columbarium and when my father passes away we'll put his remains in there with her. The headstone is very simple (you can't put a saying on it) but for most people that's enough. You can put a religious or non-religious symbol on it from an approved list.

[Shell Beau]

51. My family has some plots. My dad bought 6 after

my brother died so we could all be buried together. Now that I am married and have a child, I'd like to be buried somewhere by my husband. My grandfather is now in one of the plots my parents bought, and I guess my grandmother will be buried there when she goes. I plan on donating whatever organs can be used, and then I'd like to have a burial.

[alfredo]

53. Burial by exposure. Put me out on a mountain top and let

the scavengers enjoy me at their leisure.

It is also known as "Sky Burial."

[csziggy]

70. Yes, but the Tibetan Sky Burial requires preparation

The body is cut up into pieces small enough that the vultures and scavengers leave no identifiable bits. Vultures can chop up a lot of bones, but not human sized ones, so there would be bones left around.

We once put out a turkey that had been in the freezer too long. In 24 hours the vultures had disposed of nearly all of it, but left the pelvis. If a turkey pelvis is too large and tough, then most human bones would be. The US just does not have large scavengers able to chomp up bones that big.

[alfredo]

76. Wolves and bears aren't above scavenging. Of course it may

not be a good idea to give them a taste for human flesh.

The Zoroaster did sky burial. All that would be left but the bones.

The Israelite collected the bones of their departed from the crypt and then put them in ossuary. The Zoroaster did the same, but not to preserve the bones, but to allow for a safe disintegration of the bones.

[csziggy]

77. We do have bear here, but no wolves

Coyotes are the largest wild canines around here. Yeah, we could expose the body, collect the bones, but them in a nice container and store that away. But these days, as I said in my own comment, the cheapest most socially acceptable method is likely cremation.

I do have thirty acres of woods and there seems to be a black bear living there, so it would be cool to simply drag a body out there and leave it for the animals. But the neighbors would probably complain and I'd hate for Mr. csziggy to have legal problems and the bother of trying to explain random human remains scattered about.

[alfredo]

84. Cremation is probably the best. I'd be happy to donate my

corpse to some university or mortuary science school. It would be useless to me anyway.

[csziggy]

85. I need to investigate body donation

Now that there is a medical school in town. Before, the closest one was 150 miles away and the donor had to pay to get the body to the school.

I always thought a forensic unit would like to examine my body to see what traces all my old injuries have left on my carcass. The list of injuries is very long so they would have a lot to investigate.

[alfredo]

89. Look for a mortuary school. I know there is one in Detroit

and Louisville Ky

[csziggy]

92. Closest one of those is in Clearwater, 300 miles away.

Oh well.

Thanks for the tip, though.

[alfredo]

102. Grind you up for cattle feed?

[csziggy]

103. LOL! I'd rather be fed to the wildlife

So grind me up and use me to feed the foxes, etc. at the local rescue group.

[alfredo]

105. Here's how you do it. Go to the Red River Gorge in Ky. Get drunk and wander

around the top of the ridges at night. If no one knows you were there, they won't find you until the turkey vultures and coyotes have dined. We lose a lot of Frat boys that way.

[csziggy]

107. OK, if I get diagnosed with a terminal disease, that will be the last place I visit.

Nice place to die - it is beautiful.

[alfredo]

110. It is a beautiful place. It has some of the biggest stone arches in the east

[csziggy]

111. That is cool - and makes three places on my "go to" list for KY

The first is the Kentucky Horse Park. As a life long horse lover, I do want to see it someday. And I would like to visit the Land Between the Lakes _ I've read about it and just would like to see it. Now the Red River Gorge. Thanks!

[alfredo]

113. The gorge is one hour from the horse park. You enter the park through the

Nada tunnel.



It's an interesting passage on a bicycle.

[csziggy]

115. Oh man it just gets better and better!

It is too bad I am past biking. Or even horseback riding - which is what I wanted to do at the Land Between the Lakes. Those places would be great for hiking, too.

But my knees are pretty much shot and until I get them replaced, it's hard to do much outdoors stuff. And my knee doctor is not ready to have me do the knee replacement - he says I am too young. At this rate I am going to have to get one of the scooters to get around to see the things I want to see.

[alfredo]

119. My legs are fine, it's my arms. So I can walk the wonderful parks in this reason.

I just can't carry anything.

[csziggy]

123. My arms are not bad, just the shoulders

I've had rotator cuff surgery on both shoulders - total reconstruction on the left after an accident, and less major work on the right just last June. I don't dare stress the left since the surgeon told me if I injure it again he cannot reconstruct it again. I'm lucky it is 99% functional and want to keep it that way.

But since the most recent surgery, I have not been able to get back into shape again. That was the fifth major surgery in ten years and each took more and more effort to get back my strength and endurance. I suspect that at my age, it will continue to be a downhill slide.

I would much rather be able to walk than to carry stuff. I miss hiking and being able to just take long walks like I used to. I can do one afternoon's walking on occasion, but it takes me a week of anti-inflammatories and rest to be able to do it again.

Getting old sucks.

[alfredo]

124. We just need to cope and not let it keep us from enjoying the world around us.

[csziggy]

125. I do what I can - I grew up with older ladies that still enjoyed life

As they entered their 70s and 80s. My mother at 89 still does much of her own gardening and is active in all kinds of community groups.

But days like today with the low pressure system hanging over us make me hurt. I'll use this time to sleep and rest and once the low moves off I'll be able to do more. I get depressed from the pain and the pills, is all.

[alfredo]

126. My motto is: It's better to feel bad than feel nothing.

[csziggy]

127. Exactly. n/t

[alfredo]

128. Numb is nice for a Friday.

[Forkboy]

54. Cremated, with my ashes mixed in with the rubber they make hockey pucks out of.

[Blue-Jay]

55. No plans.

Just toss me in a garbage can and let someone else worry about it.

[AngryAmish]

56. i'm in the same situation as you

Probably near my son and my parents.

[Throd]

57. I want my corpse to be dynamited at half time on the 50 yard line of a Niners game.

[Forkboy]

58. Finally, a half time worth watching!

:rofl:

[tango-tee]

82. Forkboy, you are bad, bad, bad.

:spank:

[mnhtnbb]

97. LOL Thanks for the chuckle.

:rofl:

[NoPasaran]

60. Viking funeral for me

[Xithras]

61. Marble & granite vault. Intricate casket.

Topped with a 40 foot tall stele incribed with Sindarin poetry.

I figure that will really screw with the heads of the archaeologists in a few thousand years :evilgrin:

[pink-o]

64. I'm so sorry about your little baby. 21 years must feel just like yesterday.

But as for the answer to your question, I'm gonna go against my Orthodox Jewish family and will my old, dead corpse to a teaching hospital. If my organs are still healthy, then whomever wants 'em can have 'em. Any good that comes from shuffling off this mortal coil, so be it.

I'm actually an agnostic. I don't know what's on the other side, although I'm doubtful there's some Old Testament Dude waiting to judge me for how I lived my life. What I do know is that my physical bod will no longer contain me, so I have no problem giving it up. At the risk of offending everyone, I think cemeteries are a huge waste of land. (Right up there with Golf courses!) and it's the same human ego that thinks we're so special and deserving that makes us preserve what is long gone. Really, our finite existence calls for us to leave our shells with as little fuss as possible, not build huge shrines to them. (Bring on the flame, I can take it!)

[mnhtnbb]

98. Thanks.

Upthread I mentioned that hubby and I are going to visit tomorrow an eco forest alternative near where we live.
I'm leaning towards it.

It meant a lot to me to be able to visit my daughter when we lived in St. Joseph. For the first
six months I went several times a week.

Both my parents were cremated--my mother's ashes spread in the Pacific Ocean. I simply honored
her wishes and frankly, I would never have visited her grave. (We were not close). I moved
my dad from California to NC after my mother died and when he went I kept his cremains for some time
because I couldn't bring myself to scatter them at sea. I finally took them with me to
a writing retreat on the Outer Banks and went out late one night and scattered them myself. He was
an amateur astronomer his entire life, and his ashes now rest with the most unobstructed, fabulously
dark view of the night sky.

[bluedigger]

65. "Please Don't Bury Me"

Woke up this morning
Put on my slippers
Walked in the kitchen and died
And oh what a feeling!
When my soul
Went thru the ceiling
And on up into heaven I did ride
When I got there they did say
John, it happened this way
You slipped upon the floor
And hit your head
And all the angels say
Just before you passed away
These were the very last words
That you said:

Chorus:
Please don't bury me
Down in that cold cold ground
No, I'd druther have "em" cut me up
And pass me all around
Throw my brain in a hurricane
And the blind can have my eyes
And the deaf can take both of my ears
If they don't mind the size
Give my stomach to Milwaukee
If they run out of beer
Put my socks in a cedar box
Just get "em" out of here
Venus de Milo can have my arms
Look out! I've got your nose
Sell my heart to the junkman
And give my love to Rose

Repeat Chorus

Give my feet to the footloose
Careless, fancy free
Give my knees to the needy
Don't pull that stuff on me
Hand me down my walking cane
It's a sin to tell a lie
Send my mouth way down south
And kiss my ass goodbye

Repeat Chorus

John Prine

[Arkansas Granny]

66. Cremation and the kids have already decided where they will scatter the ashes.

[Xipe Totec]

67. One of my brothers was cremated

He died young, with no wife, and no descendants.

His ashes were burried in my father's tomb.

As for me...

I want to die young at the end of the day On the High Sea, with face to the sky, When agony is but a dream far away And the flight of my soul is a bird soaring by.

Let there be no sad tears as I draw my last breath, at one and alone with the sky and the sea, No sobbing, nor prayer, nor laments of death; I only would hear the deep waves cover me.

To die when the bright glow of twilight is fading, And catches the waves in its last net of light; To be like that sun as its luminous shading Expires and is lost in the arms of the night.

To die, and die young: before time has destroyed The delicate fabric illusion has spun; When life can still say:"I am yours," but the void Of a final echo tells us death has won!

- Gossamer Stories,
Manuel Gutiérrez Nájera,
Translated by John A. Crow

[csziggy]

68. I won't care what happens - I won't be needing this body any more

So I've picked cremation as the cheapest socially acceptable way to dispose of my remains. Given a choice, I'd just have my hubby wrap the body in a sheet and dump my body in the woods here on the farm and let the animals and bugs and worms have their way with it. But I suspect the neighbors would not appreciate it.

I've always thought the Tibetan Sky Burial was cool, but we don't have that cultural tradition here. So cremation and put my ashes where some tree or plant can get some benefit is the preference I am left with.

[TripleKatPad]

71. For myself? Cremation

When I was in my mid-thirties, I made the arrangements.
Personally I would rather my remains not be confined in a box underground. What's the point? I'm dead. Wasting space and resources and money doesn't make sense to me.
But that's me.
You should do what feels right for you and your family. Find your peace wherever and however you can.

[Lyric]

74. One of those aboveground concrete tombs.

I don't want to be buried or burned, so that makes the most sense to me. Assuming we can afford it when the time comes.

[NNadir]

75. I am hoping to be cut up and made into microscope slides for Junior High School students.

It's out of my hands though.

It's a nice thought with no meaning, but failing the above, I would love to be cremated, have my boys wait until my wife dies, mix our ashes, and toss me into the sea at Pfieffer State Beach in Big Sur.

The most beautiful night of my life I spent in Big Sur with my wife before we were married.

[tango-tee]

79. Chiming in here with final resting place plans.

Right after WWII, a care package was sent to a family in Germany from relatives in America. In the box was a can, which the family thought contained coffee. It looked a bit pale and had no coffee scent to it. But never mind, they brewed it. It tasted of absolutely *nothing*. Days later, they found a note somewhere in the bottom of the package, asking them to put Great-Uncle Otto's ashes to rest.

[tango-tee]

80. Dear friend, my heart goes out to you.

I have no words to convey what I feel, all I can think of is the pain and horror you went through 21 years ago. Please accept my hugs :hug: in loving memory of your child.

[mnhtnbb]

99. Thanks. That's quite a story above!

[proteus_lives]

81. Same plot where they have been planting my family since the 1850s.

[mnhtnbb]

100. Wow.

[skygazer]

87. That sounds lovely

My mother and my sister are buried in a beautiful and quiet cemetery on a hill in Vermont. It's off the beaten path and I was actually the one who chose it when my mother died - I was 14 years old.

It is a family plot with room for a number of cremations and I already have 2 spots reserved for myself and my husband. The cemetery will allow you to include the ashes of pets so my two beloved Boxers will be with me and our cat will be with my husband.

I don't have any religious beliefs at all and I don't believe that I will have any knowledge of where my remains are after I am dead but I find it oddly comforting that I will be in Vermont with loved ones.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

88. I would like to build a family plot around a Tree on my property --

view of sky with the tree



it is the tree on the far left

[mnhtnbb]

101. That is so beautiful.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

120. thanks. n/t

[Manifestor_of_Light]

93. A creative idea I heard about.

From a friend of a friend.

Woman's husband died, had him cremated, put his ashes in a statue of Anubis, the jackal-headed Egyptian God of Death. I thought that was the most appropriate urn I had heard of.

Me, probably buried in the mom's family plot. Grandma and her three hubbies are all there in a row -- she outlived three of them!! I think that is hilarious. Dad is there.

Mom's ashes are in a closet and need to be taken over there and buried next to Dad, but I have not gotten up the gumption to do it yet, although it's been several years. I just couldn't deal with it at the time. She made me promise I'd have her cremated which I did.

[havocmom]

94. cremation, scattered; wayward daughter knows I would prefer a simple bench for memorial

Particular park in favorite town. She can scatter ashes where she sees fit, but I'm comfy she knows the importance of mountain places to my soul, and her's.

Freedom from the worn vessel, freedom on the wind through pines, freedom in the sky I love.

That's what I figure. But then, ultimately it is just a hope. In reality, it will rest in others' hands. I hope they will be hands that knew me well and loved me.

[BlueIris]

104. Cremation; don't care if scattered or kept in an urn. nt

[hippywife]

106. I want to be

composted. :D

[HipChick]

108. Cremation..scattered in carribean

[snailly]

109. I'm so sorry about your baby daughter

How utterly painful. I like your idea. I think it's comforting.

[apex3350]

112. don't really care

[Xipe Totec]

114. For then...

I want to die young at the end of the day
On the High Sea, with face to the sky,
When agony is but a dream far away
And the flight of my soul is a bird soaring by.

Let there be no sad tears as I draw my last breath,
at one and alone with the sky and the sea,
No sobbing, nor prayer, nor laments of death;
I only would hear the deep waves cover me.

To die when the bright glow of twilight is fading,
And catches the waves in its last net of light;
To be like that sun as its luminous shading
Expires and is lost in the arms of the night.

To die, and die young:
before time has destroyed The delicate fabric illusion has spun;
When life can still say:"I am yours,"
but the void Of a final echo tells us death has won!

- Gossamer Stories,
Manuel Gutiérrez Nájera,
Translated by John A. Crow

[hyphenate]

117. Cremation

Ashes spread over the Atlantic Ocean, preferably near Rockport, MA

[DebJ]

118. Cremation: scatter me down the National Mall. I want to

haunt DC forever and would like to be among any Founding Fathers hanging about.......

[mnhtnbb]

122. That's a great idea--haunting DC.

[Callalily]

121. My ashes will

help build coral reefs.