Cremation and the Afterlife

[WhisperingWinds]

I read an article today in the Washington Post discussing "green" options for what to do with cremations. This has been a question on my mind for years since I want to be cremated, but do not want to be left to sit in some urn. I wanted to see what folks here thought of the options I discovered today.

(these do not include actual cremation costs)

1) having a dedicated memorial tree planted in a preserve with your ashes scattered at the base.
($100-$250)

2) having your ashes sent into space on a satellite ($12,000-$15,000)

3) having your ashes scattered from an airplane over the atlantic ocean ($150)

4) having your ashes used as part of a dedicated fireworks display ($3,500 and up)

5) having your ashes mixed with special cement and molded into a man made reef to help restore marine life ($850-$2,500)

For myself, I think I'd have to go with picking between 3 out of the 5 options. I'm intrigued by becoming part of a tree, being spread over the ocean, and becoming part of an underwater reef. If I had the money, I'd for sure be fireworks over the ocean - great combination of ideas with that one. Feedback is appreciated.

 

[Phoenyx]

Id take number five. I allway loved the ocean and swimming. that woudl be so cool.

 

[Cheyenne]

I've already got plans to have my ashes scattered over a favorite spot by a relative who has agreed to carry out my wishes. For free. I will become fish food. Does that count?

 

[unclej]

i live by a river that i fish, kyak and swim in all summer long..you can dump me there and i guess i'll be as happy as anywhere...

 

[Ice Cold]

Hard to say... since I don't think I will be cremated, but if I was I'd have to go with the Atlantic Ocean, since I grew up living next to it...

 

[WhiteRose]

Scattered into Kilauea crater with all my family there.

 

[WhisperingWinds]

options are good

Nothing wrong at all with having a favorite spot or having it done for free or with tradition. Since I'd be the first in my family, I'm open to considering options with appeal I think I can afford.

Personally, I'd have to give kudos to anyone that's already made plans. Trying to deal with the topic has been a long time coming for me. Having it decided is just way practical and less emotional in my opinion.

Thanks for the replies - I truly appreciate the feedback!

 

[sch00lteacher]

I want some kind of "He was here" marking. I'd kinda like to be buried on our mountain in West Virginia. Just a rock with some sort of inscription. I do want to be cremated.

I have this huge fear of being dug up ten thousand years from now by some archeology student. Then being put on display some where. So burn me. I also heard that they throw away all the non human parts. Bullshit. I want all my metal buried with me. My hips, my stents, my shrapnel. How could you just throw it away? Get a bigger urn.

 

[Pyper]

I chose tree, but I´ve always liked the method a certain religious group in India uses (dammit, I can´t remember their name right now). Body left at the top of a tower to be de-fleshed by vultures, and then the bones desolved in lime. What a better way to not take up space and give back to the environment.

 

[Vivacia]

I have always liked the idea of being "one" with a tree - that in my death I could help nuture a new life in it first few months...

Also I have always liked the thought that my kids (should they ever decide to grace the world with their presence) would have somewhere to go and remember their mother. I can almost picture them sitting under the lofty boughs of "my" tree telling me what has been going on in their lives since I "left" them.

My tree would have to be planted in the Scottish Highlands though, as BasilDD wants to be able to return "home" after his death and I want to be able to spend my afterlife with him!

 

[Slinky'sWench]

personally, I'm going up in a huge firework display

 

[cherrylips_au]

I have my first sons ashes with me at home as I haven't been able to decide what to do with them it's nearly 6 years since he died.
I was going to scatter them under a tree in our backyard that was especially planted for him but the thought of moving stopped this idea.
I still have them in the box they came in from the cremotorium and most people have no idea they are even in the house let alone that they walk past them.
These have all been good ideas but I think I'll continue to keep them at home until I know what to do.

 

[sch00lteacher]

cherrylips_au


http://www.ncl.ac.uk/healthy-med-school/html/sad.gif


I am so sorry. You will know the right thing to do when the time comes. It seems the right thing to do now is what you are doing.

My heart goes out to you.

Teach

 

[cherrylips_au]

Thanks schoolteacher thats what I feel to, when I know whats right I'll do it. It does help if you can think about what you want before hand for yourself but we didn't have a choice.
Its an interesting topic, I think the fireworks would be a wonderful celebration of your life.

 

[kotori]

I hope none of my survivors spends anything like these costs on me. You could get a good 25 pints of Guinness for $100. Just put me in the dust bin and leave my on the curb.

 

[Softstone]

I have been planing this for some time,
I never thought anyone would ever post anything on it...
However you brought it up.

After my cremation my ashes are to be molded with some of the finest rubber on the earth and placed into a mold shaped like a dildo.

Because of the amount of ashes involved it will be a very large one approximately four and a half inches wide by twenty-two and a fourth inches long the cost for having this done is just over one thousand dollars.

My wife tells me she will keep me by her bedside till she dies.

I could not indulge in your poll because of my plans are not simple ones.

 

[candlelite]

Dust to Dust

I would hope to have my ashes spread throughout a nearby park. Its a place that is very special to me, I have alot of good memories of family and friendships that have occurred in this park.

I love the thought of becoming fireworks I never knew this was an option.

 

[CelestialBody]

 

[WhisperingWinds]

Knowing what to do

Thanks schoolteacher thats what I feel to, when I know whats right I'll do it. It does help if you can think about what you want before hand for yourself but we didn't have a choice.
Its an interesting topic, I think the fireworks would be a wonderful celebration of your life.

Cherrylips_au,
I am sorry to hear about your loss. I believe that you will know the right thing to do. I had a similar hesitation about the tree idea, but the site I found is a preserve dedicated solely to reforestation and it is cared for by rangers specifically to care for the trees. there's a trust agreement that the land could never be used for anything else.

Those people closest to me in my life will not allow me to discuss what it is I would like done. I have attempted to figure it out when I ran across the Post article. It prompted me in a major way to research it. I genuinely like several of these ideas, but since I couldn't discuss it with my friends and family here I wanted my Lit friends' perspectives.

I hope that one day soon you will find an option that appeals to you and feels right for the love and memory of your son.

 

[WhisperingWinds]

Original thinking

I have been planing this for some time,
I never thought anyone would ever post anything on it...
However you brought it up.

After my cremation my ashes are to be molded with some of the finest rubber on the earth and placed into a mold shaped like a dildo.

Softstone,

wow, what an idea. I'm left to wonder how you managed to find a person or a company that would take care of that for you. that's quite an impressive measurement listed. it's a bit weird, it's real quirky, but I like it - it's got style.

thank you for sharing that.

 

[WhisperingWinds]

re: kotori

I hope none of my survivors spends anything like these costs on me. You could get a good 25 pints of Guinness for $100. Just put me in the dust bin and leave me on the curb.

Kotori,

somehow I think 25 pints of Guinness classifies more as a wake - not a bad way to go. <grin>