On "Resting in Peace"

[Spock]

I skimmed the Paul Tibbets thread and I wnated to say something on the headstone/Creamation/ RIP thing.

I absolutely do NOT want to be embalmed. I am leery about cremation.

My personal preference is to be allowed to rot as nature intended and return to the soil. I have thought about checking into natural burial. IIUC, it is legal in some states.

I read a wonderful essay about this a few years ago in a book called "Soil." Dealt with an old saying "Richer than Churchyard Earth." (Meaning a Graveyard".

[MarleysGh0st]

My personal preference is to be allowed to rot as nature intended and return to the soil. I have thought about checking into natural burial. IIUC, it is legal in some states.

As you might guess, a progressive community like ours has one of these, just outside of town in Newfield.

http://naturalburial.org

[ksbirchtree]

I had an elderly aunt who was not embalmed. However, there was a time limit on when the funeral could be... like 48 hours after time of death.

She didn't have much family left, and only had graveside services, so it wasn't a big deal.

[silvercamaro]

In my state, the funeral directors have a very effective lobbying effort at the state capital. As a result, by law, a body must be embalmed before it can be cremated. (It's possible, although I'm less certain, that a coffin must be purchased in which the body is burned.) Of course, these measures insure that the funeral directors will maximize their profits from every death.

[PlacentiaSoccerMom]

In my state, the funeral directors have a very effective lobbying effort at the state capital. As a result, by law, a body must be embalmed before it can be cremated. (It's possible, although I'm less certain, that a coffin must be purchased in which the body is burned.) Of course, these measures insure that the funeral directors will maximize their profits from every death.

My grandmother set up a trust for her funeral arrangements. It was truly amazing, the costs of the funeral expended to match the balance of the trust.

[SportsFan68]

My personal preference is to be allowed to rot as nature intended and return to the soil. I have thought about checking into natural burial. IIUC, it is legal in some states.

I think the best way to get your molecules all mixed up with everything else as nature intended is cremation, although admittedly cremation itself is highly unnatural. I'm pretty sure that you have to be cremated or embalmed right away in Colorado. I told SteelersFan I don't care where the ashes are scattered as long as it's outside.

[PlacentiaSoccerMom]

Jeff and I took a cemetery tour in New Orleans. Most of the crypts have room for three or four bodies at a time. Because the bodies are sealed inside the crypt, hot weather causes the body to decompose quickly. After about a year only bones are left and there is "storage" room for the bones in the crypt's "basement" leaving room for the next family member's body.

It seems like a very pragmatic use of space.

[silvercamaro]

I think the best way to get your molecules all mixed up with everything else as nature intended is cremation, although admittedly cremation itself is highly unnatural.

I have said in the past that my preferred death would end in the ocean, where my body would provide food for fishes. Although I have no particular desire to die any time soon, and I'd rather it not be by drowning or shark bite, I do rather like the idea of contributing sustenance for other living creatures as my final legacy.