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Life's Final Chapter

Motokid said:
But what are YOUR wishes Robert? That's the question. If you could care less that's fine, but if you could orchestrate the whole thing what would make you happy if you could somehow witness your final moments on earth?
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It really doesn't matter to me. Funerals, burials, and services are for the living, not the deceased.
 
realistically, i would like for my organs to be used, then my remains cremated and spread in the ocean beside my hometown.

but if i could have any sendoff, i also would love the viking exit. put me on a floating funeral pyre, with flames 20 feet tall and throw a huge beach party to celebrate life. oh, and that song "We're Here for a Good Time" by Trooper- have to play that.
 
I want to have the traditional funeral and burial. It helps me to be able to go to the cemetery and know that my grandfather (who died unexpectedly of a heart attack when I was 12) is right under the ground. It still gives me the perspective that he's "there" without being there, if that makes any sense. So I would hope that it would give my loved ones the same satisfaction if I was buried.
 
Yeah, I'm more traditional too. I'd like to simply be buried in a family plot next to my hubby. Or rather, him next to me because I don't want him to die before me! lol
 
By traditional do you also mean the whole open casket affair? I've been to a few of these and some families expect nothing less. It's not my cup of tea, but it's your party so have at it. Just wondering what your definition of "traditional" is?
 
the traditional funeral here is with an open casket, long sad funeral in a church and then processional to the cemetary. no thanks. i've been to enough of those to know i dont want to be remembered that way. i don't want an open casket because i want to be remembered how i was when i was alive. i used to think i wanted a grave stone but what good is that after a couple generations? i plan to leave my precious things to my loved ones as a reminder of me.

we had a lovely cemetary in my hometown that had been the same for over a hundred years. it's surrounded by trees and overlooks the ocean. earlier this year they ripped out a huge expanse of trees to make room for more plots, and it totally ruined the quiet tranquility of the place (as it exposed the grounds to the main road). all they did was put off the inevitable- which is finding a new cemetary. plots have seemed more wasteful to me ever since that happened
 
Hey Hollis,

"Or rather, him next to me because I don't want him to die before me! lol"


How 'bout having him stacked on top of you for the eternal "coupling" effect? :D

hope you don't mind the wee bit of a joke there... :)
 
Open caskets are kind of an iffy subject for me. I had a friend who's father shot himself in the head, and they had an open casket (bad, bad, bad idea) and I also had a guy that I graduated high school with die in Fallujah back in November and they had an open casket (full military services though, very nice) but I just don't think that if you die violently you need an open casket. If I die of natural causes, sure an open casket would be fine with me - otherwise no.
 
You know, the funerals I've been to have not been about sorrow so much as about remembrance and reconnection with family members and friends. In fact, we went to one just recently (a few weeks ago) and it was so neat seeing the family altogether, laughing and just enjoying each other as they reflected on the man's life. I think, too, because my family has always focused on their faith, the fact that they believe someone is in a better place really can take away some of the pain of the loss and they don't find themselves mourning so much.

I don't care to really look at people laying in open caskets personally, though I know for some people, it gives them one last chance to say goodbye. They find it easier if they can actually look on the person's face one last time. So opened-closed, it doesn't matter to me. I just like the traditional funeral/burial. Maybe because it's what I've always known. I think it'd be neat to have everyone throw a flower or something on top of the casket. Perhaps a white rose. Those have always been my favorites! That reminds me...I need to refresh the flowers on my grandparents' graves. Haven't done it in a while and I'm the only one who lives near their cemetary anymore.

And btw, Motokid...not a bad idea. Not a bad idea at all. *winks*
 
This is what my hubby wants, and I think I agree with him.

He's instructed me to have the cheapest funeral possible. In his opinion, he'll be dead, it's no use spending a bunch of money on him, it's like pouring cash into a hole in the ground. :eek: And no to cremation.

On the other hand, I'm taking care of my father these days who is in the late stages of congestive heart failure. He has willed his body to a medical school and when they are done with it, he wants to be cremated and have his ashes sprinkled in the river on whose banks he grew up.

I see the good sense in both.
 
But if money was not part of the equation and you could choose some extreme, exciting, or memorable way to make your final exit on the planet what would you like to have happen?

Forget being simple and conservative, forget the usual and mundane.
Forget being practical.

If having your body wrapped in gold leaf and rocketed into Haley's Comet would not cost anymore than sending you to the local landfill via the weekly garbage pick-up what would you choose?

How 'bout having your body frozen in liquid nitrogen and dropped off the worlds tallest buliding. Then having all your tiny little frozen pieces vacuumed up and scattered into the ocean around a pod of majestic whales so they could feed on your microscopic body parts and transport you around the worlds oceans for all eternity.

How 'bout that?
 
If money was no object, then my family can do whatever they want with my body, I don't care, I won't be using it anymore....
 
If it was possible, I'd ideally be cryogenically preserved, then blasted into space. If im gonna be brought back, I sure as hell dont want it to be here. I'd also have as my epithe on the front 'Dues Ex Machina'.

And If anybody wears black, and if a priest is allowed within 100 feet, their in for a serious haunting.
 
There's enough new people to the forum that I thought I'd like to bring a few old threads back to life......here's one I'd like to see a few new people answer....
 
I would like my organs used to help others,then i want to be cremated! And i want someone to read out the hymn Footsteps in the sand!
 
ruby said:
I would like my organs used to help others,then i want to be cremated! And i want someone to read out the hymn Footsteps in the sand!
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Nice and sensable.....but what about a fantasy ending....something larger than life....something that would cause people to wonder what they will miss about you now that you are gone....especially those that did not quite get to know you very well...
 
Motokid said:
Nice and sensable.....but what about a fantasy ending....something larger than life....something that would cause people to wonder what they will miss about you now that you are gone....especially those that did not quite get to know you very well...
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The people that know me well would miss me for all the funning round i do for them,i give alot but never expect anything in return!
 
Frankly, I don't care what happens to me when I'm dead and gone. Because, I'll be... well I'll be dead and gone and won't care.

If my family would like to have a plot in the local cemetary they can go to, fine by me, and then I'd suggest cremation because that'll demand a smaller and thus cheaper plot.

I work as a singer in a church so I sing at quite a few funerals, and it's my general impression that there are more cremations than burials. And fancy coffins etc hasn't really reached Denmark on a grand scale yet.

As for countries without space for burials - yep, Austria. They put the bodies in the ground, and dig them up once there's only bones left. Then the bones are put in the so called Bone Houses - sometimes richly decorated with painted patterns and the like. You can get to see some of those Bone Houses that hold bones dating centuries back as far as I remember. It's a scary sight. I dunno if they have a similar tradition in Switzerland though it would make sense if they did.
 
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