[Marmaduke]

Originally Posted by MandoMan

“Well, you can bury her, burn her, or dump her in the Thames.”
“Dump her in the Thames?”
“Oh, were you fond of her?”

My dad had my mom cremated when she died ten years ago, then dumped her ashes under some rose bushes in Washington Park in Denver, a place he liked to visit. He could sit on a bench there and think of her. But now he’s 95 and not allowed to drive, so he can’t easily get there. Then the parks department dug up the rose garden and replaced it with native plants. (You might call them weeds.) I took him there last December. It wasn’t the same.

Now he wants to be cremated and thinks maybe his ashes should be scattered under the big fir trees in the backyard. But we point out to him that after he dies, we are going to sell the house, so it’s not like we would ever sit there to think of him.

My family lives in my heart—many generations of them. I never visit their graves. As long as I think of them, in a way they live on. Ashes? Just let the cremation company toss them, or flush them down the toilet. Treasure up your loved ones in your memories.

Loved your story and your sentiments. Beautiful!