Your Earthly Remains

[arwalden]

Do you have any preference as to what shall become of your remains? Are your wishes documented in writing?

-- Allen

[billybob537]

1. You can make my tombstone outta # 9 coal.

[prole_for_peace]

2. i found this place that will mix your ashes with cement

and make artificial reefs to drop in the ocean. I can't remember what it is called (found it on the internet). I think that is kinda cool.

There is also a place I heard about on NPR whre they compress the ashes into a man made diamond. Interesting.

[ott]

3. Other: Harvest the lifesaving organs, skin, marrow, etc...

Burn the rest. SO or family's choice with what to do with the ashes ... Although planting a tree on top of them or http://www.eternalreefs.com is appealing.

Haven't written up a will or anything but those who will make the choices know what I want.

[No2W2004]

4. Different Steps,

1) Allow doctors to harvest any and all useful organs and tissue. I'm dead, so I'm not using them anymore. Hopefully, by this last act, I'm allowing others to live happier lives.

2) Cremate the remains.

3) Part of the ashes are to be sent to a memorial forest, where I have a tree. There, the ashes will be spread among those of Barkley and any other pets I may have.

4) I'd like part of the ashes mixed in with some form of media to be made into a memorial art work.

5) The remainder to be mixed in with fireworks and shot off at the end of a party to celebrate my life.

:)

[Fusions_Minion]

49. There shall be no working organs...

after you feel the wrath of the letta' opener of death.... Bwahhahaha

[Mojambo]

5. Science man.

I'm donating my body to science.
Chop me up ladies and gents!

[oneighty]

15. Yes

me too, and then the ashes be buried at sea from the deck of a US Navy 'Ship of the line!' Whoooo Hooooo, my last, deepest and longest dive forever!

180

[Az]

6. Donating my body to science fiction

:D

[davsand]

7. Cremate me then scatter me over the GOP Convention.

I figure I've spent a lot of years being a pain in the ass to them it would only be fitting that I go out as a cinder in their collective eye!

Laura

[Kurt Remarque]

17. good answer!

[Misunderestimator]

8. Just burn me up and spread me...

ahem

[madrchsod]

9. i`m going to say it -yes

and no one can stop me---------"all we are is dust in the wind"------

[SoDesuKa]

10. Compressed into a Diamond

And worn around a dog's neck.

[fortyfeetunder]

11. I've dressed a dead person once

I was helping out in a funeral home. I'd prefer to be made an ash of myself rather than put someone through the phases of dressing my remains....

[curse10]

12. Cremation, then turned into a reef!

http://www.eternalreefs.com/

[johnnie]

13. On the front lawn

In one of those big Hefty bags.

[AngryAmish]

14. Strip off any useful organ or tissue

Although I pity the poor guy who gets my liver. It is probably twice the proper size and hard as a golf ball.

I heard about this eco-friendly burial that basically puts you in a cardboard box and puts you in a field. That is appealing, because our bodies are just the meat sacks we walk around in.

OR, build a gigantic monument, about 70 stories high. That way the earth will remember my terrible deeds forever and be warned.

[KDLarsen]

16. If my organs can be used..

.. I've signed up as a full donor, which means that any part of my body that can be used for transplant, will be used. I did this together with my dad, even though none of us have ever had transplants of any kind. We just both felt that it was the natural thing to do - my opinion have always been, that if you want to recieve any form of transplants, you should personally by willing to donate yourself. Of course, those who are prohibited from doing so because of their faith (though these are often prohibited from recieving) or medical state, will be exempted from this requirement.

As for my bodily remains, I hopefully have a lot of years left in this world, but when the day comes that I leave this earth, I want to be cremated and my ashes spread on the Roskilde Festival grounds, since it has been a very big part of my life, since I was born and since I attended it for the first time at the age of 9.

[name not needed]

18. Cremated and Scattered at sea

[ronnykmarshall]

19. Burn 'em and fling 'em!

What ever parts are good, let someone have 'em.

I've got very pretty green eyes and if someone can use 'em ...... go on!!

At this point, I'd like my ashes scattered in the waters near SF, LA, NYC and off the coast of Puerto Vallarta Mexico.

It's kinda morbid, but what I really want to happen is have both Michael and I's ashes mixed and scattered together.

I would say along with the ones of our cats Mickey and Mongo ...... but by the time I hope we both kick the bucket we might have a shit load of kitty ashes along for the ride.

The real question is knowing someone that will out live our asses to take care of it.

[zx22778a]

20. Composted. n/t

[Swamp Rat]

21. Eaten by friends and relatives

Or if my carcass is bloated and too ripe, cremation and consumption of my ashes in a banana shake.

[Swamp Rat]

52. edit: Actually, my ashes would taste great in just about any fruit drink

but Banana should be included in the mix. I'd also like everyone to take hallucinogens while consuming my carcass, dance around naked and have sex.

[Bunny]

22. I've threatened my children about this.

In order to collect their measly inheritance, they will have to have me cremated, then split up the ashes so each can put them in an urn and display them prominently in their homes. Preferably with "chasing" Christmas tree lights doing a pattern around the urn!

Now, THAT is class! And a fitting tribute to their darling mumsy.

[arwalden]

25. Oh That's Lovely!! Also...

... you could record a message that's stored on some digital device that's installed on/in the urn along with a small activation button. So whenever the button was pressed (or when the urn was moved) your "I-love-you" message could be heard even after you've departed.

-- Allen

Or, it could be a "clean-up-your-room" message... or "you-NEVER-phone-me-anymore" nagging message.

[Obamarama]

23. I want to will my body to the Body Farm...

Seriously. I think modern funerial customs are ridiculous, overpriced dog and pony shows. I have said jokingly for years that when I go just dump me out in the woods for the animals and mother nature to deal with. Now that I know about the Body Farm, this is where I'm going:

Nearly everything known about the science of human decomposition comes from one place -- forensic anthropologist William Bass' Body Farm.

On three acres surrounded by razor-wire and a wooden fences near the University of Tennessee Medical Center, about 40 bodies rot away at any given time. They're stuffed into car trunks, left lying in the sun or shade, buried in shallow graves, covered with brush or submerged in ponds.

-snip-

Bodies come from a variety of sources -- unclaimed corpses from medical examiners' offices and outright donation. Some 300 people have willed their bodies to the facility, with more coming with each fresh wave of publicity.

"The university lawyers have a form they've made up," said Bass.

Because of this, the science of decomposition goes on. But Bass and his colleagues never forget that the subjects of their experiments were once living, breathing beings with dreams, hopes and fears.

"Once a year, we have a memorial service," Bass said Tuesday, just before leaving to join a German television crew for this year's service.


http://www.cnn.com/2000/HEALTH/10/31/body.farm/

[arwalden]

26. I've Heard About This Before... It's Fascinating

I saw it featured on some sort of autopsy show or criminal forensic special on HBO. What they learned about the different stages of human decomposition... at different times of the year... in different weather conditions... in different surroundings... helped them to gain a better understanding about the possible circumstances surrounding the deaths of murder victims.

Normally things like that totally disgust me to the point that I'm unable to watch, but HBO was very gentle and discreet with the footage that actually made it to the final version. It was truly fascinating. (From a distance. I doubt I'd ever EVER be interested enough to pursue it as a career.)

-- Allen

[Red State Rebel]

33. I saw a program on this....fascinating!

Such a useful thing - assisting in solving murders and mysteries for years to come by the research.

[Pithlet]

37. I read an article about that

They get requests for tours all the time, including one from a boy scout troop (what was the leader thinking?!). I'm glad such a place exists because I think research is very valuable, but I'm way too squeamish about anything dealing with bodies to be fascinated by it.

[Radical Activist]

47. I used to live near the Body Farm

in Knoxville. It was always such a wierd thing to drive near the area and know that a bunch of dead bodies were laying around. I've heard they have a very long list of people who want to donate their bodies. I was surprised by that, but from your posts I can understand why.

[flamingyouth]

24. I didn't see the donatino to science at first

yes, that is what I would definitely do. This funeral bullshit is insane for the survivors to deal with.

[LDS Jock]

27. Cremate and scattered

My family all knows my wishes. I wish to be cremated and have my ashes scattered on the mountain overlooking Provo UT next to the giant "Y" overlooking BYU. It is a place significant to me since its the place I first realized I was totally and completely in love. Yes, maybe its a tad like "The Bridges of Madison County" but it is the place I wish my ashes to be scattered.

[More Than A Feeling]

28. Mailed to someone I don't like.

<eom>

[POed_Ex_Repub]

29. Whatever is cheapest... seriously

Put me in a hefty bag and leave it on a corner. I mean, if I'm dead, it's not going to matter much to me; As far as I'm concerned if I'm not alive I'm a hunk of meat. Save the money and throw a party in my honor. I don't want any moping. I'd rather see my friends and family having a good time than bringing them down with the inevitable (but hopefully many years down the line) event.

[PartyPooper]

30. Cremate my remains and scatter the ashes off the coast of France.

At least, I'll always find franco freedom and a liberal welcome off the shores of France. 'Viva la France'!

:D

[hatrack]

31. Medical school first (finally!), then confluence of the Green & Colorado

Just toss me in where Cataract Canyon begins, and I'll happily shoot the rapids one more time!!

[NMDemDist2]

39. ohhhhhh We flipped at Satan's Cesspool and Brown betty too

what a great river trip that was.... Of the 100's i've done that is one of the finest

[NashVegas]

32. I Wanna Be Wormfood

Getting into recycling these days, and want to be put in the cheapest, least endurable coffin possible.

[Red State Rebel]

34. It's so great to see so many willing Organ Donors!!!

My father died in 1963 of kidney failure. The Doctors told my Grandmother if they had been able to keep him alive 5 more years they could have saved him. The research on modern dialysis and transplants was getting so close at that time.

I've always been a big supporter of transplant programs, particularly the Kidney Foundation.

He was 32 at the time and I was 6.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

35. I don't want to take up a lot of space...

They can either cremate me, or give my body to hungry grizzly bears.

[St. Jarvitude]

36. I want to be stuffed and suspended from the ceiling of a rave

I wonder, though, if anyone will notice.

[TrogL]

38. Medical schools need cadavers

Computer simulations just aren't the same.

[givemebackmycountry]

40. Man

I wanna be like Ted.
I want my ass frozen.
DEEP FREEZE muhfugher.
Not just my head either.
I want everything FROZE.
When I come back I don't want it to be just my head.
What good is a head with no goddamn body?
You gots to have a body.

So that's it.
I wanna be a frozen, stiff, waiting to be thawed out muhfugher.
Like Paul Newman said in "The color of money"

I'm Back!

[northofdenali]

41. Cremation after my tissue/organ donations!

Take me to the Brooks Range and deposit what's left in Atigun Pass.



It ties with Hatcher Pass and the Denali Highway for beauty, but is WAY much farther from "civilization"!!

[Piperay]

42. Interment

I call it 'drawer space' in a wall. :-)

[Ellen Forradalom]

43. I'm joining my father and brother in Lake Michigan.

My heart belongs to the Great Lakes.

[CRK7376]

44. My wife and kids

have known for years that when I'm gone to scatter my remains in several spiritual places for me....Just as I did with my parents remains....

[CanuckAmok]

45. "I often think, 'if I'm alive in 100 years, what will I be doing?'"

And then I think, "scratching frantically at the lid of my casket'.


Cremation, baby... nice and wahhm.

[Bat Boy]

46. I want to be whipped into a bourniasse sauce...

...and served at all the finest restaurants.

[Djinn]

48. I used to want to be buried

and had a rather elaborate plan for my funeral and casket (I was kind of a morbid kid - cemetaries were one of my favorite places, very peaceful) but then I found out what people spend on coffins/services and it all just seemed like a massive rip off.

I would donate my bits and pieces for transplant but unless the laws change here before then I doubt they'd be taken - I can't give blood because I lived in the UK for more than 6 months prior to 1981 - mad cow fears.

I really think that funeral are for the living so I really don't care - whatever the nearest and dearest want that's fine with me (although absolutely NO God references, but none of the fam are religious so I doubt that'd be a problem) If they had no objections I'd like to be cremated with half my ashes being scattered in the Murrundindi river (or forest) and half to go back to Scotland, havn't decided definetly where - maybe from the top of Arthurs Seat so I can drift over Edinburgh or in the grounds of Iona Abbey - although I'm not sure sure if that's allowed, if not somewhere in the ocean around Iona would be fine.

[arwalden]

58. Dividing Human Ashes...

I helped to divide a friend's ashes once... we were a bit clinical about it. We were somber and respectful during the process, but it wasn't very ceremonial. We did it at the kitchen table.

Human ashes are very odd. They aren't as powdery as you'd imagine... at least they didn't resemble the powdery fly-ash that I had always seen on TV dramas. -- Instead it's a mixture of ash, and pulverized bone... kind of gritty and sandy and ashy.

Human cremains also have an odor to them. Not unpleasant... it reminded me of the smell of plaster of Paris. Very odd. Again, not what I expected and a bit of a surprise.

Half of Tim's ashes were buried, and we scattered the other half in Ocracoke, NC.

Prior to that time, I had never seriously considered having my remains cremated. But after seeing how much LESS stress it was for family members NOT to have to see a "lifelike" corpse... and (even though we try not to think about it) when a corpse it buried, there's always the morbid image of the body decaying underground like in a horror movie. Burying a body is very traumatic and emotional.

On the other hand, the ashes are NOT at all like the living body was. Not lifelike. Holding (and actually touching) the cremains helped to remind me that we're not burying Tim (the person) but instead, we were burying Tim's remains. Our friend Tim was gone and these were his remains... they didn't resemble anything about Tim, they were merely ashes. Much less stress involved.

-- Allen

P.S. If you EVER take children to a funeral service where the cremains are present... you REALLY ought to make certain that they understand what's going on.

My friend, Eve, was cremated and the box that contained her cremains was displayed on a pedestal at the front of the church. Eve's grandchildren were old enough to expect to see a casket, but had apparently never been exposed to the idea of cremation.

Prior to the service, one of the children asked where their grandmother's casket was... and was told that it was that little box at the front. --- "How did they fit her in there?" was the panicked reply. (I guess she was imagining that they had squeezed her into the box with a hydraulic press of some sort.) --- When they explained that she had been cremated and then had to explain that cremation meant that she had been "BURNED"... Eve's granddaughter just started WAILING and screaming "No! No! No! How could you do that? No!"

I guess cremation isn't for everyone, and it should be explained to the very young.

My aunt believes that cremation is WRONG WRONG WRONG because on the day of the rapture she wants to have a body that can rise up from her grave. Apparently cremation prevents that from happening. Who knew?

[VOX]

62. Apparently God is limited, and can only work with bones, not ashes...

This is what I always say when I hear the usual anti-cremation arguments.

Seems rather silly for people to believe in an omnipotent God who, according to the mythology, can create Adam and Eve out of clay, and yet cannot resurrect anyone who's been cremated!

[Renew Deal]

50. Dirt nap

though I am flexible.

[Dogmudgeon]

51. Freeze me head when I'm dead, Fred ...

Freeze me head when I'm dead
With the ice tray for me bed, Fred
Freeze me head when I'm dead

All together now --
Tie me kangaroo down, sport
Tie me kangaroo down ...

--bkl
With a tip o' the ol' hat to Rolf Harris

[BigBigBear]

53. My wife asked

that her remains be scattered at the top of Lift 9 at Loveland Basin - the highest quad chair in the world, sitting astride the Continetal Divide. It tops out at 13,020 above sea level.



For now, she remains in an urn in the living room. The hike to the top is about 3000' vertical and two miles each way, and the lift doesn't run the summer - I haven't had the opportunity to make it up there yet.

[arwalden]

55. Sounds Like A Beautiful Spot

:hug:

[bookfreak]

54. Donate to science

I'm already listed on my driver's license as a donor of "all usable organs and tissues". I figure anything they can't use they can just cremate and toss.

[terrya]

56. I hate the idea of enriching the corporate funeral industry.

It's nauseating to expect burial....with the attendant ridiculously expensive coffin included.

Creamation for me. With as little expense to my family as possible.

[blindpig]

57. chop me up and feed me to the gators & turtles

at Tate's Hell Swamp.(In my dreams. Reality dictates C&S.)

[Swamp Rat]

59. Kick for morbidity

[VOX]

60. Cremation, then tucked into a niche with my wife, right next to...

my mom and aunt and brother. (My mom and aunt are holding our places for now, and the rest of us are in no hurry to join them just yet.)

I used to think that burials/markers/"Loved One" stuff was BS, but I've come to see that there's a great comfort in it -- knowing where you'll be.

But like I said, no rush -- it's too much fun here on this side of things! :toast:

[newdealer]

61. Me?

Launch my body into outer space!