Cremated and put in the ivy at Wrigley Field

put me out with the recyclables on friday morning, or put me in the back yard and plant a live oak on top.

Thank you !!

Great minds think alike.

About a dozen years ago, our now 42 year old son told everyone , in writing, that he wanted his ashes scattered up in the Colorado Rockies and that his friends would know where to put them........his favorite place.

More and more, I'm hearing things like this.......

We know top executives who say "Don't waste money on a funeral; just send me off in the cheapest way possible....a cardboard box." Serious.

I had an Eastern Rite "Greek Catholic" priest tell me once:
"Funerals are not for the dead........they are for the living".

You can take that as "Do kind things for your loved ones when they are alive". It doesn't matter after they are dead.

Thanks for sharing.............

Every single response has been wonderful to read....... I can't reply to every single one......but I thank all for their thoughts......cremation seems to be leading so far........it's what I've been thinking of myself.

So, firstly, thanks to everyone............

But your post about the ashes in the rose bush reminded me of a dear neighbor of ours whose elderly sister (he was elderly also) had put her own husband's ashes (in some type of disposable box) outside on her back steps. She was in early stage Alzheimers at the time.

Unbeknownst to her.......the garbage men picked it up, thinking it was part of her weekly garbage load......being just a plain nondescript box.

Goodbye HUBBY..........guess he ended up in the landfill.

There was no way to trace it as our garbage trucks GRIND UP the stuff they pick up.

Luckily, I do believe in the spirit.......and I know for a fact that the spirit lives on.......much happier without it's diseased body. Lighter and freer.

So, survival of the spirit is what's important......I guess; not the burying spot.

We watched something on Public Television yesterday about an embalmer who owned a funeral home in N.Y.C........he did a beautiful, loving makeover on his elderly "clients".........but I do think that business is on its way out. They also showed a mortician in the south, again devoted to his "clientele"........but just watching the corpses in the coffins primped and made up.........which brings me to another question....{what else is new?}

If you are going to be cremated.........is that with NO CALLING HOURS?
Meaning, "no viewing" at all by the family?

Sometimes, these funeral directors will talk people into having the viewing hours and then in some states you still have to purchase the coffin in which you are cremated??? With no viewing hours, that would not be an issue.

We're watching all the re runs of THE SOPRANOS.......and they sure did go to a lot of funerals........just as my grandmothers and the elders did.......
it was very social back in those days......however, not everyone lives around the corner from each other anymore.........and with folks all over the country and all over the world, as another poster mentioned, just travel to the funeral can be difficult.........cremation is simpler.

I agree with those who said, "Let them have their memories of me while alive and the good times we shared"....
I'm paraphrasing.....

In other words, rather than their last memory being of us in our coffin.

Love that idea....

p.s.
My last thought is that with so many of us having what's left of our siblings, etc. scattered all over the country and getting on in years themselves.........our friends passing, our elders gone already......ditto for aunts, uncles and such......

Pre planning long distance funeral, such as one of our female family members did about a decade ago.......may not be easy to achieve........

She told everyone she was giving them "two weeks notice" to get there (flying); she planned a TWO HOUR church service and listed all of the songs she wanted played.....she prepaid the "repast" luncheon, which would take place after the graveside ceremony..........so this , as you can imagine, would be a very very long morning..............not to mention the "viewing" the evening before in the funeral parlor. My guess is only her own adult kids will show up.

I just don't take myself that serious to pre plan such a big elaborate funeral for myself. I'm so confident that the spirit lives on and is joyous when free, that I opt for cremation. My husband says, "Send me out the cheapest way possible"...."Don't waste the money"........for the men, it seems more to be about the cost.

Although the women might not say it, I think they are feeling that they don't want the viewers to say, "Oh my gosh.....look at how good she looks; she never looked that good when alive". Just teasing.........

My mom would tell stories of how the old ladies in the neighborhood would go from "wake to wake" for the free luncheons........whether they intimately knew the people or not.........the old time Italians were known for their histrionics (yelling and crying and screaming over the deceased)........I remember that also.

Neptune Society

Interesting website......

On another subject, for quite some time now, various websites have been offering memorial DIAMONDS to wear which are made from the ashes / carbon of the decedent.

I told my husband that if he ever did that to me, I would haunt him for all eternity.

I just looked it up and they are more expensive than any funeral.......unless you got the tiniest diamond.

They come in various colors, shapes, sizes, and prices.

He had a friend who is quite well off who was "thinking" of doing that to his dead wife.

Not my cup of tea.

However, to you women who feel you never got the diamond you wanted..........here's your chance.
Should be lots of carbon in one full size male.

neptune society
 

I prepaid for the Neptune Society for my cremation. Once I am gone, they handle everything including death certificates. I already have my lovely rosewood box but they can scatter me if they want, put me in a hole and plant a tree, whatever. I have a notebook for my family with obit info., my letters to them, account info. etc. I tried to spell things out as much as possible so they don't have to think about what I would want. Now that that is taken care of, I can go on and continue my sweet life here in TV..

My wife and I have made arrangements to donate our bodies to the medical school at a nearby university. Useful organs will be harvested immediately and our bodies will be used in the training of future surgeons and other doctors. Finally, the remains will be cremated and turned over to our children who will scatter the ashes in our favorite place. The surviving spouse or the children will arrange a reception/party for the deceased. This will be an informal get-together with no speeches or other formalities - just good fellowship.

Scattering Ashes - Memorial Reef | Eternal Reefs -
All my family knows this is what I want. True recycling. And a party afterward at a great seafood place with all my friends and family. I'll be watching....

A friend told me today about how they put the ashes of a friend of hers into about 5 fireworks and lit them off. Now, that's what I call going out with a BANG!! It was very appealing to me!