Which do you want?

[anna_66]

Ok, maybe noone will want to talk about this, it's kind of morbid but I was just wondering.
After the last few funerals I've went to I can definately say I want to be cremated. I don't want people walking around saying, "That doesn't look like her at all".
I want people to remember me for what I looked like when I was alive.

[binka_nugget]

I didn't vote. I'm really not sure about this. I'd love to be buried with Kai's ashes (as spooky as that sounds) but..I'm not positive.

[Logan]

Cremation is my choice too. But even if that happens, I want the casket to be closed. I cannot bear, even this late in life, to see an open casket, even when it is one of my loved ones. :( I would much rather remember and be remembered as I was when I was alive.

Logan

[mugsy]

I am the same way Logan. Mike and I are both going to be cremated and the dogs' ashes will be with us. I, too, would rather be remembered for who I was alive, not have the last memory be of me dead.

[RICHARD]

are you all crazy????


why not just live to be 200????


that's what i'm gonna do..

pessimists, one and all!!!

[ChrisH]

Cremated, definitely. Both my Mum and Fred, my husband, were cremated, following their wishes. When the time comes that is what I would like to happen too.
Chris

[2kitties]

I voted for cremation, if it were up to me. But, I really don't care. I want my loved ones to do what will make them feel best. If they feel an open casket will help them say goodbye and deal, then that's okay with me. I mean, I'm dead, so it really doesn't matter to me. I just want my loved ones to do what will make them feel best. But I don't want them to spend a bunch of money whatever they decide.

[robinh]

I do plan to live as long as possible, but I'm not so sure I get to choose.

I really don't care, but I would probably go for burial. Funerals are not for the dead, they are for the living. I'll go along with what 2kitties said, if they need an open casket it's fine with me.

I will tell you my mom and step-dad donated their bodies to the medical university here for research. The university uses the remains for a year or more, then cremates them and you can have the ashes or they will bury in a common grave with all the other remains. Both Mom and Ted wanted to be buried with the others, which we did but I will tell you it was very tough for us not having a place to go visit for a while.

This is a very important thing to talk over with your family. I know I'm in good health and have a good life expectancy, but I have talked to my son about what I'd like if something should happen. I trust he'll take care of it.

[mugsy]

Originally posted by RICHARD
are you all crazy????


why not just live to be 200????


that's what i'm gonna do..

pessimists, one and all!!!

Leave it to Richard!! ;) Psychic AND near immortal!! lol

[Edwina's Secretary]

I prefer cremation. Too much of the earth is taken up with cemeteries and then you hear big fusses about.....can't use that land because it is a cemetery. "From dust ye come and to dust ye shall return."

I want a park bench engraved with my name and "Sit a while, I've got no place else to go!"

Cremated! We all return to ashes, so why not make that happen as your own choice?

[RICHARD]

lol,
i just remembered the story of 'Ski' Demski..

this gent wanted to be "buried" in flag pole, in front of his home, cremated of course!!!

when he passed away last year, the powers that be in Long Beach, California fought to keep him off the pole.........needless to say.......



Last Wishes!
In life and in death, the super patriot "Ski" Demski is making sure no one forgets Old Glory. Every day, the American flag continues to fly in front of his Long Beach, CA house.

His chest and back are tattooed with elaborate Stars and Stripes, and he owns what the Guinness Book of World Records ® regards as the "World's Largest Flag," one that covers 2.8 football fields. That huge American flag, manufactured in Pennsylvania in 1990, cost Demski $45,000. He rents it for special events for $10,000.

"It stands for freedom, and I love it," said Demski, who also wore the Stars and Stripes in a band around his head. When he died, he wanted his friends to hold a wake in his garage, where his casket was surrounded by American flags. Then, afterwards he was cremated, and his remains where placed in a vault inside the huge flag pole in his front yard. He arranged for friends to live in his house and preserve his flag collection. "It's so nice to see it waving," Demski said. "I want that to continue."

[Uabassoon]

I'd prefer to be buried, I think maybe because that what all of my family has done. Then a few years ago I had a friend ask me why I wouldn't want to be creamted and I realized in my mind I'd never even thought of that as an option. But I still think I would rather be buried next to the rest of my family.

[gini]

This subject, even though serious, made me chuckle.

I would prefer to be cremated. So I have included this information in my will. I have also requested that my ashes be scattered in the ocean on my favorite beach on Maui.


Why do I chuckle? My friends ask me "how are you feeling." Also if I decide to buy something they suggest I shouldn't because they want to be sure there is enough money left in my estate for them all to fly to Maui, stay in the Hyatt and oh yeah, if they remember - scatter my ashes.

[babolaypo65]

My family believes in cremation. Me too. Its a family thing to pick out one's own urn early in life as well from among the family pottery collection.. (hey, you're gonna be in it!) We have a collection of native american pots that seem appropriate as urns. Oh, we bury the urn by the way.

I chose mine about five years ago.

[lovemyshiba]

I chose cremation. I have felt that way for a while, and I agree, I would like my loved ones to remember me alive, not in a casket.

[popcornbird]

Definitely buried. In my opinion, the ground is where the dead belong. :(

[anna_66]

Originally posted by popcornbird
In my opinion, the ground is where the dead belong. :(
I want my ashes spread, so therefore I feel I am where I belong (or will be).

[popcornbird]

Originally posted by anna_66
I want my ashes spread, so therefore I feel I am where I belong (or will be).

Ah I see. I would prefer to be buried in one piece though. :)

[Fuzzy317]

I have told my family many times, that I want to be cremated and sprinkled in the creek beside my favorite place, the Talladega Gran Prix racetrack. My worst racing crash was there in 1996, but its still my favorite place.

[CathyBogart]

I feel that burial is a waste of space, I want to be cremated and scattered somewhere...

[Tonya]

I totally know how you are feeling and thinking, Anna. I had a cousin go through a windshield last Oct, and they actually had open casket. Not to be insensitive or gross, but you can only imagine what someone would look like after going through a windshield. No amount of makeup can make them look themselves. I am totally against open casket. When I close my eyes and think of my cousin, I picture her dead and looking horrible. I was with her the night she died. If she'd had a closed casket, that night would have been my final memory of her instead. I want to be buried without a viewing or open casket.

[wolf_Q]

I would never choose cremation. Just my beliefs.

I don't want people staring at me either. I'd prefer closed. I'm still traumatized by people taking photos at my Grandfather's funeral...they actually made a friggin scrapbook out of it, and they are upset because I (and my family) refuse to look at it. :o :(

[Fox-Gal]

Cremated and spread my ashes in the ocean.
Two reasons why, first I belive that land should be used for better things then holding my remains. Build a family a home, park anything that would bring joy to the living.

Second I don't want there to be a place that my family can go to to morn. I've seen people standing over a grave site, talking to their loved ones, crying etc. I don't want that, if they need to talk to me I'm where ever they are and if they want to cry....I'll be there too. It's only my shell that rests in the ground, not me. I don't want them to morn over an empty shell.

[Fuzzy317]

Originally posted by Fox-Gal
Second I don't want there to be a place that my family can go to to morn. I've seen people standing over a grave site, talking to their loved ones, crying etc. I don't want that, if they need to talk to me I'm where ever they are and if they want to cry....I'll be there too. It's only my shell that rests in the ground, not me. I don't want them to morn over an empty shell.

This is exactly how I feel. I want to be in a joyful/happy place, not a sad/lonely place.

[carole]

I alway's wanted to be buried, until I attended my first funeral, and then my second, one was burial , one was cremation, by far the cremation was easier on the grieving family, much quicker, and not so sad, there is something extra sad to me standing over the coffin being lowered down into the ground.

So it is cremation for me, I am not a morbid person, but I have left instructions for my family on exactly how I want my funeral, I figured we cannot always have what we want in life, so at least we can in death, (well hopefully).

I have it all planned,the colour of the hearse, the flowers, the music, yep SANTANA AND BARRY WHITE are gonna see me out, where it will be held etc etc.

After each funeral I have attended, I have changed my notes according to what I want.

I also hope that oneday my youngsters will take my ashes over to the land of my birth SCOTLAND, and scatter them in ELLON the village where I was born., it maybe the only way I will ever visit my birthplace lol.

I personally feel by leaving instructions, that can be carried out to the best of my family's ability, will help them, they won't have to make choices and decisions, they may not feel capable of, at the time, and it will make things easier for them all.

Anyhow just my thoughts, interesting topic.

[kingrattus]

Eco-pod me please!!! so I chose other.

[Kfamr]

I don't know. The sight of a graveyard and the fact that there are bodies, bones and so on 6 feet below me freaks me out.


I think i'd want to be cremated and scattered in the ocean.

[cloverfdx]

cremation for me thanks

i dont want to be stuffed in a wooden box and shoved under 6 feet of cold dirt *shudders* and im a bit claustrophobic as it is *urgh*

[Cataholic]

Cremated....

However, folks, 'usually' cremation is the alternative to a coffin burial. With cremation, you still have the option to have a casket viewing, memorial, AND a burial...the urn is interred instead of the whole coffin(which in a cremation would be a plain wooden casket instead of the fancy ones you see at a viewing). An open or closed casket can still happen when one is cremated, since the cremation is after the viewing.

So, if you want cremation, and NO viewings...be specific.

[Samantha Puppy]

I want to be carefully preserved (like Lenin or Eva Peron) and placed inside a double-wide glass casket so that I may be with my husband (fiance now). And Samantha could lay at the bottom of the casket, like she does with us now.

I don't want to be cremated. It'll hurt. :(

I don't want to be buried because: 1) I don't want to decompose; and 2) I'm afraid people will forget about me.

So yeah, put me in a glass casket with Josh and Samantha, make sure we're all really well preserved, and then maybe I won't haunt you. Otherwise, I most definitely will not be resting in peace!!

[Logan]

Has anyone heard of "green burials"? It is a very different concept, and apparently very popular in the UK.

Here's one article I found about one locally:

Green Burial (http://www.acfnewsource.org/environment/green_burial.html)

Here's another Q/A page about green burials:

Questions/Answers (http://www.memorialecosystems.com/faq.htm)

[Rachel]

Originally posted by Logan
Cremation is my choice too. But even if that happens, I want the casket to be closed. I cannot bear, even this late in life, to see an open casket, even when it is one of my loved ones. :( I would much rather remember and be remembered as I was when I was alive.



That is exactly how I feel.

Also I want my cremation remains to be combined with those of my RB dogs, and then spread in a woods or some other natural setting.

I don't even want a memorial service, unless it is out in a park somewhere where people can come and bring their dogs and maybe have a picnic or something.