# Cremation or burial ? What is your choice ?



## jimintoronto

My Wife's first Husband died suddenly 2 weeks ago. She and he have 3 adult children, and the older son is the executor of his Dad's estate. Apparently Dad didn't have a will. His son had to act quickly to arrange the cremation. He found a local service here in Ontario, that provided complete services, including body removal to the cremation facility, all death certificates, a simple wood casket, and cremation, all for a total of $1400. The cost of a traditional burial including removal, casket and burial plot would have cost at least ten times that amount. I have just completed the application to use that same simple cremation service for myself this morning. 

In the event of your death, what are your wishes ? JimB.


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## Murrmurr

Cremation. I have a policy that will cover it.


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## Macfan

Cremation, it just makes a lot more sense, among other things common sense use of land area, and a lot less expensive  . Don...


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## HoneyNut

jimintoronto said:


> In the event of your death, what are your wishes ?


Ideally, I'd like to be buried in a type of 'green' cemetery that I've read about that wraps a body in a fungus-imbued shroud that helps recycle the body, and buries it and plants a tree on the plot.
But I haven't arranged anything, it seems like cremation is the simplest option, after my father died my mom had him cremated and at the same time she paid for her own future cremation, and it made life so easy when she died.  My parents already had cemetery plots and I think headstones too (I am bad, I have never gone to the cemetery because it is a couple hours away).


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## Sassycakes

My husband and I both want to be cremated.


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## Myquest55

DH and I took a tour, last spring, of a local ORGANIC cemetery.  It is one of two in the state.  It was beautiful and we loved it.  We picked out 2 plots on the tour, came home and wrote out the check.  ($1300 for two plots and burial) Got our deeds in the mail the next week.  We can be buried, usually 2-4 days from the death, in a plain wooden box - no chemicals - or wrapped in an organic fiber sheet or blanket, or even paper.  The bodies gradually compost and we get a flat stone that will be engraved (at our cost).  Even came with room for a beloved pet.  

We haven't talked to a funeral home yet since we have tentative plans to move to a CCRC in a nearby town.  So, not sure where we'll end up.  The woman who owns the cemetery said that most of the funeral homes nearby are familiar with the place and know what to do.  Our sons are completely on board with it.


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## AnnieA

Cremation.


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## bowmore

Cremation and my ashes sprinkled where I sprinkled my late wife's at sea. I am in CA, and my family has a large plot in NJ. I cannot see any sense in shipping me back there to be buried.
My wife has a family plot in PA, and I called the cemetery to find the cost of interring her ashes. 
Well, by the time they added up the urn, vault, digging and covering, it was well over $1000! That did not include me flying back there.


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## Marie5656

*And unto dust I shall return.  My husband was cremated in 2019. My niece has a big beautiful field on her property. She is going to sprinkle us out in the field.*


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## Alligatorob

jimintoronto said:


> Cremation or burial ? What is your choice ?​


To be honest I don't much care, I'll be dead then.

When asked I tell people the lowest cost possible, probably cremation.

However a "green" burial wouldn't be bad.  If it didn't cost too much.  No embalming, no real casket, and no dedicated ground.  In a place like this: https://www.prairiecreekconservationcemetery.org/

Being cast into a shark feeding frenzy would be ok too, but I don't know how to arrange that...


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## Pepper

Cremation, and I'd like my son to mix my ashes with my husband's.  We also have a couple of cat ashes, and I want them in the mix, too.


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## Knight

Pre paid cremation for both myself & my wife.  Burial plots, all transportation that may be needed, burn box, bio degradable box for placement in the ground, all paperwork needed for kids to claim inheritance. Signature cards signed & witnessed for safety deposit box where other info that may be needed. 

I was curious about a burn box. The director explained to me that dignity was important so rather than just being cremated on a slab & the ashes scooped up the nude body was placed in a box designed for cremation.


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## Pinky

Cremation .. I want our last dog's ashes to be mixed with mine.


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## Sassycakes

When my sister's husband passed away almost 20yrs ago she always wanted him to be near her. When he was young his father cheated on his mother and married someone else. Neither parent wanted him so he went to a Boy's home. He met my sister when he was 16yrs old and when he passed away she had him cremated. she didn't want him to be alone again. He loved wearing cowboy boots she had wooden ones made and she keeps his remains in them right next to her bed.


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## Mr. Ed

I'm going with irrigation.


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## Don M.

Cremation here, also.  I see little sense in paying for a tiny piece of dirt, an expensive casket, and a piece of rock....that will be forgotten once the immediate family passes.


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## horseless carriage

Don't ever laugh as a hearse goes by
For you may be the next to die.

They wrap you up in bloody sheets
To drop you six feet underneath
They put you in a pinewood box
And cover you up with dirt and rocks.

It all goes well for about a week
And then, your coffin begins to leak
And the worms crawl in, the worms crawl out
The worms play pinochle on your snout.

They eat your eyes, they eat your nose
As you begin to decompose
A slimy beetle with demon's eyes
Chews through your stomach and out your sides.

Your stomach turns to rancid grease
And puss pours out like melted cheese
You spread it on a slice of bread
And that's what you'll eat when you're dead.

And the worms crawl out, the worms crawl in
The ones that crawl in are lean and thin
The ones that crawl out are fat and stout
Your eyes fall in, and your hair falls out.

Your brain turns into maggot pie
Your liver starts to liquify
And for the living, all is well
As you sink further into hell.

And the flames rise up to drag you down
Into the fire, where you will drown
Your skin melts off as you descend
And Satan tears you limb from limb.

Your suffering will never end
And the worms crawl in, the worms crawl out
They'll eat your guts and then shit them out
And when your bones begin to rot
The worms remain, but you do not.

So, don't ever laugh as a hearse goes by
For someday, you'll be the one to die
And when Death brings his cold despair
Ask yourself, "Will anyone care?"

Cremation, problem is, I don't smoke.


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## officerripley

I want to be stood up outside in the garbage can wearing a swimsuit and my "Eve was framed" ball cap [see pic to the left].


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## Alligatorob

horseless carriage said:


> Don't ever laugh as a hearse goes by
> For you may be the next to die.


Thanks!! I remember that well from my youth, we used to sing it often.  A few words different, but the same song!


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## Wontactmyage

I have my cremation prepaid and told my funeral director he can make me the elf on the funeral home shelf if he likes. I also tol him every year I was going to send him a picture of Mimi (from the Drew Cary show) to let him know I was still alive.


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## jujube

Cremation.  It'll be my last chance to have a hot, smokin' bod........


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## Chet

Cremation. I read up on what is done to your body in preparation for a burial and it's ghoul-ish in my view. I directed that most of my ashes be interred in my father's grave and the rest sprinkled in the woods where I played and in the river where I fished as a kid. My nephew is supposed to take care of business after I'm gone and I told him that if sprinkling my remains in the places asked was too much he can just bury them with the rest. I don't want to burden him unnecessarily.


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## Aunt Bea

Prepaid cremation with burial in the family plot.


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## MickaC

Cremation has always been my wish, and will stay that way.
A request I have in my will, is to have my past little family members who’ve past, to be set into my grave with me, have 3 in their beautiful jars in my curio cabinet, now.......and the others at some point in time.


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## Tish

Donating mine to Science


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## Manatee

My parents are buried 1200 miles away.  I have been to their graves once ever.

Mrs Manatee and I have prepaid for cremation. Our ashes are to be scattered in the Gulf of Mexico.


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## Alligatorob

Manatee said:


> Our ashes are to be scattered in the Gulf of Mexico


My mother and brother are there, a good place to end up!


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## mellowyellow

We will be using this service when the time comes

_Current Sydney Cremation cost $2299

They transfer your loved one from place of passing, 24/7

fill out all necessary paperwork & permits

provide a dignified, private cremation at a Sydney Crematorium

return your loved one’s ashes

arrange registration of death and Death Certificate_


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## Kika

Definitely cremation. I've not yet decided where my ashes will go.


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## SeaBreeze

Both my husband and I want simple cremation, no special services or burial involved.  If we want to keep the ashes, we can do with them as we please.


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## john19485

I don't want to burn twice


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## RobinWren

Cremation, already paid for, my children know my wishes. One less thing for them to worry about.


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## Alligatorob

Cosette said:


> Well, I'm a Buddhist. The proper thing to do is allow the monks to take your corpse in to the desert or mountains, literally chop you into parts for carrion and return to the earth.


Does that happen in the US?  I like the idea...


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## FastTrax




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## Repondering

Cremation.  I already have a headstone in the little rural cemetery and my ashes will go there.  I'm alone in the world so there won't be a funeral; the mortician will just open up a bit of turf with a shovel, scoop out enough soil to make room for the ashes and replace the turf on top.


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## dseag2

My mother willed her body to science.  I am planning to do the same.  She had numerous illnesses.  I am fairly healthy, and I understand more can be learned from those who die healthy.  It is also much easier on those who are left behind.


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## Paco Dennis

HoneyNut said:


> Ideally, I'd like to be buried in a type of 'green' cemetery that I've read about that wraps a body in a fungus-imbued shroud that helps recycle the body, and buries it and plants a tree on the plot.
> But I haven't arranged anything, it seems like cremation is the simplest option, after my father died my mom had him cremated and at the same time she paid for her own future cremation, and it made life so easy when she died.  My parents already had cemetery plots and I think headstones too (I am bad, I have never gone to the cemetery because it is a couple hours away).



  I had this arranged about 3 years ago. My plot will be in the black section of a graveyard where the poor people....slaves, field hands, and domestic workers are buried. When I met the owners of the burial service I didn't know that it was a black family business that goes back a couple generations. They aked me at one point if I minded about being white and lying next to black folk for eternity. I told them I was very glad...most of my best friends and musicians I played with are/were black. I am looking forward to the spot over looking the wooded hills of Missouri with people I already love.


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## Lawrence

It would be cremation for me, and I have told them I would like it if they would get a bag of concrete and mix my ashes in it and shape it in the form of a rock. Not quite sure what I want them to do with the rock. Maybe get a pointy stick and draw my face on it or my name,


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## Jules

It seemed that cremation used to be more rare. I’ll be having that done.  Nothing is arranged.  I think I’d like to be put in a river.


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## terry123

Cremation.  Scatter me over the Gulf.


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## Alligatorob

dseag2 said:


> My mother willed her body to science. I am planning to do the same.


My mother tried to do that, but it did not work out.  First we were told that there would be charges for it, and then they said they did not want her.  She died of lung cancer, not sure if that was why.

Anyway we went with cremation and she ended up on a beach in the Gulf of Mexico, a good place I think.


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## Alligatorob

Jules said:


> It seemed that cremation used to be more rare.


I agree, and am surprised how many here are going with cremation.  A sign of the times I guess.

Not a good time to invest in the funeral industry...


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## Pappy

Cremation: I am donating my body to science and they will do the cremation and send ashes to my wife.


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## jimintoronto

I want to thank all those who replied to this thread. It appears that ( in this forum at least ) the traditional type of funeral and burial is no longer the norm. In my case, I have chosen a simple cremation service company here in Toronto, and pre paid the fees. By doing that my Wife does not have to do anything at my death, except call the service provider and notify them. Today we will be speaking to our lawyer, to update and modify our wills. Thanks everyone. JimB.


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## caroln

Cosette said:


> Well, I'm a Buddhist. The proper thing to do is allow the monks to take your corpse in to the desert or mountains, literally chop you into parts for carrion and return to the earth.


Ewww.....sorry, I certainly wouldn't want that.


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## Geezer Garage

Think I've addressed this here before, but' going to have my hide tanned and turned into a lady's motorcycle seat, so I can be between the  two things I love the most.


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## C50

Cremation and my ashes poured into the creek that runs along my property, that way I will be spread out over the land that I love.

As a side note my daughter(a research scientist) told be the other day if she could legally do it she would keep my skull just for the fun of it.  I could see her doing it given the chance, she'd get a kick out of it.


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## OneEyedDiva

Muslims are advised to be buried but over the past couple of years, I know of some who have been cremated. I believe this is in part to family members not knowing that burial is preferred or it being more financially feasible to choose cremation. About 4 or 5 years ago, I purchased my plot and paid for the opening and closing fees as well, so I will be buried.


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## Nathan

> Cremation or burial ? What is your choice ?




Edit:  just kidding.  Cremation.


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## DaveA

We're both to be cremated. Service and stone already. paid for.   Burial plots were given to us by my parents, years ago. 

As we have never moved from my birthplace, our burial is in a plot that dates back into the mid 1800's.  Quite a family history can be garnered from reading the names and dates on the stones.

I pass by the cemetery (  or our future home as I sometimes refer to it ) when heading for the grocery store or pharmacy.


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## Timewise 60+

I won't be there, so I don't really care!


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## Butterfly

I will be cremated.  I hate all of the funeral hullabaloo and want no part of any of it.


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## C50

Butterfly said:


> I will be cremated.  I hate all of the funeral hullabaloo and want no part of any of it.


I get it, I don't want to go to mine either.


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## jimintoronto

As a young man in my twenties, I worked for about a year for a body removal service here in  Toronto. We were the ones who went to the place of death and transported the deceased to the funeral home. So you could say I was the fly on the wall, observing the traditional funeral practices . The actual cost of caskets provided  to the funeral home is about 80  percent less than the price charged to the family. The prices charged for "services " are also grossly inflated above what it actually costs the " home " to provide them. The phrase "funerals are for the living, not the dead " was commonly expressed by the staff at the funeral homes. In many cases the funeral directors used high pressure tactics on the surviving family members " to give Dad  a REALLY NICE FUNERAL " that pushed them to go into debt to pay for it. In some cases, the casket that the family bought and paid for was switched for a much cheaper one, and the original was resold to another grieving family. ' The funeral industry fights hard against any legislation that would institute legal oversight on their business ethics. JimB.


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## Ruthanne

My brother asked me the same thing and I told him cremation.  Normally our family has a regular funeral but there's no way to afford that.  Besides, they or the morticians couldn't make me look good if they tried.


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## WheatenLover

Cremation


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## Em in Ohio

I would prefer to be fertilizer for a tree, but I'm not sure that is an easy option here.  Barring that, all my paperwork says cremation.  I did tell my daughter to just abandon my ashes.  I cremated my brother and my son and they reside inside ceramic cherubs on my fireplace mantel.  But, then they become a "burden of responsibility" to others when I die.  Now, I personally don't want to add to my daughter's burdens.  Not everyone wants to decorate with cherubs.


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## MountainRa

Cremation for me. I have a strong distaste for the idea of embalming with poisonous chemicals and then the body placed in the Earth.

There is a Green Burial cemetery in my area of SC. It is a really nice option.


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## MrPants

After watching this movie: (spoiler alert; it doesn't end well)





Also, becoming aware of this girl's alleged plight:
_Rufina Cambacérès was born into a wealthy family, heirs to a large cattle fortune, and her father Eugenio Cambacérès, was a well known writer and politician. Rufina suffered an early tragedy when her father died of tuberculosis when she was only four years old.

In 1902, Rufina was nineteen and had grown into a beautiful young woman, and something of a Buenos Aires socialite. While getting ready to attend a show, Rufina suddenly and without warning collapsed onto the floor. (Many modern versions of this story include a bit about this being caused by a scandalous revelation, something about her boyfriend sleeping with his own mother, but this is almost certainly a fabrication added on later to spice up the story.) Doctors were called in, and supposedly all three doctors pronounced the young Rufina dead of a heart attack. Rufina was put in a coffin and sealed in her mausoleum, and a funeral was held.

A few days after the funeral, a cemetery worker found that the coffin had moved within the crypt and the lid was broken in places. Fearing grave robbery, he opened it to find something even worse—scratch marks covering the inside of the coffin, and Rufina dead, hands and face bruised from having tried to break her way out of the coffin.

The explanation doctors were said to have given later is that Rufina had suffered a attack of “catalepsy” (the classic buried-alive diagnosis, and the one used in Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Premature Burial”) and later awakened in her coffin, only to die of exhaustion and shock._

I think I'll go with cremation, just to be on the safe side.


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## IKE

Mama jokingly said a few years back that because of my lack of friends that if I go first she'd have to find a place that rents pallbearers.

I stewed on it a second or two and figured that by golly she was right so I told her to just cremate me......don't need pallbearers to carry a Mason jar full of ashes.


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## jimintoronto

IKE said:


> Mama jokingly said a few years back that because of my lack of friends that if I go first she'd have to find a place that rents pallbearers.
> 
> I stewed on it a second or two and figured that by golly she was right so I told her to just cremate me......don't need pallbearers to carry a Mason jar full of ashes.


I know that you were  making a joke but.......When I was a young guy in my early 20's I worked for about a year for a body removal service here in Toronto. We were the guys who went to the place of death and transported the deceased to the funeral home. We also got calls to be silent mourners at Jewish funerals of WW2 camp survivors, who had no living relatives. We would be paid $25 to stand at the graveside, by the local Jewish temple. Not pall bearers, but we were paid to be there. JimB.


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## charry

Cremation……..from a young kid , I’ve always said , that I don’t want to be buried and eaten  by the worms


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## win231

I prefer cremation.  I'm always cold.


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## jujube

As I said earlier, it's cremation for me.

However, if I *were* to have a funeral, I'd want a closed casket one, with the organist playing "Pop Goes the Weasel" over and over again until everyone in attendance is staring at the coffin with silent, horrified anticipation.

Hey, nobody said I'd have to stop having fun, just because I'm dead.......


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## Aunt Bea




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## Betty Boop

My husband was cremated and I will also be cremated. My son already knows our wishes of places to be sprinkled together.


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## GoneFishin

Cremation for me, already preplanned


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## Timewise 60+

I haven't decided yet.  I am leaning towards cremation...

My wife of 52+ years wants to be buried with her Mom and Dad in a family plot. I refuse to be their with them in any form.   I could be buried with my parents and sister, but I hated my sister and never understood why my parents tolerated her.  So that does not work for me either.  What we do really is not about us, it is about our remaining family.   In my case that is our three adult kids...

My wife has made her choice, and I really don't feel right about asking my kids what they think, or I would have to share all the 'dirty laundry' above.   They don't need that!  So, probably I will be cremated and ask my kids to spread my ashes in a high mountain lake, where I grew up...


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## Serenity4321

wow I am surprised most are for cremation..I am too but I thought more would be for traditional funerals. My only hesitation was grandchildren would not have a place to visit if ashes are scattered. Still, I will choose cremation, and not sure what will be done with my ashes..and frankly, I do not care. It is up to my kids to determine what they want..


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## Dapper Dan

I will be cremated as I have no siblings or children. So it would just be my wife and she plans on getting cremated as well . She is almost 10 years younger than I am so I imagine she will go after I will.


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## Packerjohn

It's cremation for me for sure and it's all paid for.  Worms are not going to feast on me.  Actually, I have a little box from Amazon where my ashes are going to go.  When you really think about it, after I'm gone, I wouldn't care, will I?  I wouldn't be having any of those very expensive Mafia funerals that Hollywood seems to love.


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## CrowFlies

there is a new way....called....Terramation.  they make compost of you and use it to grow new trees, and other veg.
id like that way.  one has to learn if ones area can do that method id guess.

i fear the county will dump my ashes in the homeless pit.  no one else will notice im gone or do anything.
that freaks me out.

where my horses are buried next to one another, i then sprinkled the ashes of allll the dogs cats over the years
around the horses so they are all together. i put some of my hair in the brush around the horse graves too.
i am not able to have my ashes put there however.


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## Gary O'

Cremation or burial ? What is your choice ?​
Burn me

Toss my ashes into the Salmon river
It'll be the Chinook's turn to dine

As far as a twist to things, a few old posters I created come to mind


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## Marie5656

*Cremation. As was my husband. I have not decided what to do with our dust...probably sprinkled at a few favorite places.  Some will go to the military veterans cemetery in Gettysburg...a couple Rick and I were very close to are buried there. I am hoping someone will take someof our combined ashes there and sprinkle them around the graves,  The wife of the couple introed us.*


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## Teacher Terry

I have already bought a cremation plot in a cemetery.


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## JustDave

My will specifies cremation, with my ashes deposited in a remote part of a specified Montana Wilderness Area.


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## rgp

Something else I need to get into ........the aftermath of my demise. I'm thinking cremation.  I have no family, wife,kids etc. I have a half sister that is seven years my senior, [pushing 80] and lives 300+ miles away. And, truth be told .... we're just not close. And my close friends [except one] are already dead, and the guy living is 18 months older than I , and a cancer survivor ...... so, who will live the longer ?

I guess my best bet is to contact an attorney & the local funeral home.

I have pretty much decided about my estate [such as it is] ... Childrens hospital(s) and rescue animals.


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## Pepper

Bury my heart at Wounded Knee.
Cremate the rest.


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## jimintoronto

rgp said:


> Something else I need to get into ........the aftermath of my demise. I'm thinking cremation.  I have no family, wife,kids etc. I have a half sister that is seven years my senior, [pushing 80] and lives 300+ miles away. And, truth be told .... we're just not close. And my close friends [except one] are already dead, and the guy living is 18 months older than I , and a cancer survivor ...... so, who will live the longer ?
> 
> I guess my best bet is to contact an attorney & the local funeral home.
> 
> I have pretty much decided about my estate [such as it is] ... Childrens hospital(s) and rescue animals.


I strongly suggest that you search in your local area for a  basic cremation service, and arrange a "pre need contract " that will fix the price at current rates, and make the process much simpler. My cremation service contract here in Toronto cost me $1,800 in total. All services are pre paid, and all my Wife has to do is call them when I die. They do everything from that point onwards, transport, cremation, vessel, death certificates. JimB.


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## funsearcher!

I believe cremation. but I do believe it is important for there to be a memorial time so that the survivors can comfort one another and share stories and memories.


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## Feelslikefar

Since the VA treats cremation the same as burial, I'm going with cremation and a headstone
at the National Cemetery with full honors, here in Tennessee.

Part of my ashes with be taken to my favorite Surf spot on Oahu and the rest with sit in an urn
that my wife will hopefully dust every once in a while.

This is the instructions I've written down, but they can 'wing' it if need be.
I won't much care at that point...


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## Sunny

Cremation ashes can be buried also. They don't have to be scattered.  My husband and I bought a beautiful marble cremation bench, which is hollowed out inside. The ashes are left in their container and placed inside the bench (which is enclosed), and the outside has the usual names and dates that would go on a tombstone. It's in a beautiful wooded setting, and is actually a pleasant place to visit.  So it gives family and friends a place to "visit" their loved one, just as an old-fashioned tombstone would, but is a lot nicer.


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## jimintoronto

One of the oldest Jewish graveyards here in Toronto is so short of burial space that they are now doing "vertical burials" where the casket goes into the ground vertically. To save the remaining space they have. A national survey here in Canada recently showed that about 75 percent of Canadians now opt for cremation over traditional funerals and burials. Cost of the traditional burial was the leading factor in the switch to cremation, followed by concerns over ground pollution. JimB.


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## rgp

jimintoronto said:


> I strongly suggest that you search in your local area for a  basic cremation service, and arrange a "pre need contract " that will fix the price at current rates, and make the process much simpler. My cremation service contract here in Toronto cost me $1,800 in total. All services are pre paid, and all my Wife has to do is call them when I die. They do everything from that point onwards, transport, cremation, vessel, death certificates. JimB.



 Thanks 

 Sounds like sound advice, I will look into it.


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## oldaunt

I would be just as happy with composting. Why worry about what becomes of dead meat?


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## Blessed

Cremation, no service/memorial, no embalming, done and done.  Put the ashes in a container that can be mixed with my husband's ashes and our most loved dog.  Son is to take us to Lake Tahoe to spread our ashes.  We always talked about retiring there.  We are at least going to go there one way or another.  LOL


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## fuzzybuddy

When I kick the bucket, I know if they bury me, one day they are going to want to build a McDonald's over me. I've just got my grave the way I like it, and that happens- sooner or later. So, I want to be cremated, and my ashes dropped into my septic tank. If you knew all the grief, I went through to get the damn thing, you'd understand. And I do not want a viewing. If I've been dead three days, and embalmed, and some idiot walks up to my casket and says, "Doesn't he look good?". I'm coming out after the SOB.


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## mike4lorie

Well, I always tell Lorie to have me stuffed, and put at the back door, with a smoke in my mouth, and a glass of rye in my hand... But she keeps telling me that will never happen, so I guess I am looking at cremation...


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## JaniceM

mike4lorie said:


> Well, I always tell Lorie to have me stuffed, and put at the back door, with a smoke in my mouth, and a glass of rye in my hand... But she keeps telling me that will never happen, so I guess I am looking at cremation...


https://journeyz.co/can-you-taxider...idermy legal? Why is human taxidermy illegal?


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## mike4lorie

JaniceM said:


> https://journeyz.co/can-you-taxidermy-a-human/#:~:text= Yes, you can taxidermy a human. But,human taxidermy legal? Why is human taxidermy illegal?


Interesting read... But yeah, I am just joking with Lorie...


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## Trish

If I get prior notice, I will have a party before I go and if no one shows up, I will change my Will and disinherit the lot of them!  

Cremation is fine.


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## Mizmo

Cremation...no fuss, no muss.  Cardboard box straight from hospital or wherever it happens.
Throw my ashes in the lake or whatever.

I was raised Catholic and always remember Ash Wednesday when priest would smear ash on the forehead with the words..
Ashes to Ashes Dust to Dust and into Dust Thou shalt return.
Horrified me and other kids
Did not have a clue what it all meant then

So looking forward to my next life


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## steve43

I'm planning to do as Tish is going to do. I refuse to pay a lot of money for this. I will donate my body, I guess to a hospital, and they can do with it as they wish, as long as it's free. I really don't care.


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## Jan14

No frills cremation.  The cheapest way is what I want !  Don’t want my body decaying away.


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## Gaer

I'd kinda like a grave marker to visit when I come back next time.
Rather go to a higher world though,
besides, the marker will likely be covered with rubble anyway.
Can't think about that now.
 I'll think about that tomorrow.


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## Prairie dog

We have prepaid for urns to be put in a niche at the cemetery.Have paid for opening & closing for 2 people.Had a bigger one just in-case my son wants to go there.

We still have a plot at the cemetery,where my family is.

We bought our urns at https://perfectmemorials.com/...A few year ago.paid about 60 dollars for each.Bought a nice one for our last dog there.At the time they only shipped to the US.So, had shipped to the border to pick up.Now they ship to Canada.

We have not paid for the cremation itself.We wanted no service as  well.

Prices here around 1400. Some funeral homes want you to purchase a casket for the cremation.My MIL had made her arrangements that way.

I have on my health card for organ donations.If anything left that is good ..May help some else.


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## bowmore

I picked up my wife's ashes on Friday the 10th, and kept them at home until the12th.
On the morning of the12th there was a moderate earthquake here, as if to say
even the ground was unhappy.
I drove out to Oxnard, where we went for most of the 29 anniversaries we
celebrated, and rented a kayak. The people there were very helpful getting the
two of us launched, and I paddled out to the marina entrance. It took about a half
hour of paddling until I could get clear of the breakwater and out into the open
sea. The conditions were not too bad, only a one to two foot swell, which made
things easier for me.
I opened the bag with her ashes, and slowly poured them into the sea. I said a
few prayers for her, and watched as the ashes dispersed into the water. I sat
there for a while, reminiscing over the 30 years we spent together, and slowly
paddled back to the landing.
After changing into dry clothes, I went upstairs to the restaurant we always ate at
when we came here. I felt a small pang of remembrance and guilt, as this was
the first time in a while that I had no one to help up the stairs


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## Lawrence00

I think my will says give it to science. I should probably change it to dig a hole in a forest, dump it there, and plant a tree.


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## Blessed

I could be wrong but I think you might have to contact a source to leave your body for science.  They would be notified on your death to come claim the body.  Kind of like a will, certain protocols must be followed.  

I wanted to donate my husbands body, he suffered a rare cancer event.  I was told by the research facility that arrangements had to made prior to death.  

His Aunt donated her body, she made the arrangements prior to her death.  Once they had used the body for study, they took care of cremation and returned ashes to the family.


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## DebraMae

Cremation for sure.  I have given the kids two choices, either dump the ashes in the campfire ring we have here and have a final get together at the "cabin", or take them somewhere in the mountains I love and dump them there.


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## Jack Frost

HoneyNut said:


> Ideally, I'd like to be buried in a type of 'green' cemetery that I've read about that wraps a body in a fungus-imbued shroud that helps recycle the body, and buries it and plants a tree on the plot.
> But I haven't arranged anything, it seems like cremation is the simplest option, after my father died my mom had him cremated and at the same time she paid for her own future cremation, and it made life so easy when she died.  My parents already had cemetery plots and I think headstones too (I am bad, I have never gone to the cemetery because it is a couple hours away).


Hi Honey. This is may help you as it has helped me. My parents gravesite is a 21 hour drive away but I manage to visit often. What I do is go to google earth. Put in the address of the cemetery then go to the gravesite and zoom in. This is better than no visits. Let me know how you make out using this method. Enjoy your day, Frostie


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## Llynn




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## Paladin1950

I opted for cremation. The main reason is that it is a hell of a lot cheaper. Originally, I was going to go for the burial, but switched over to a cremation after several monthly payments. With the burial, I would have been making monthly payments for years. At the beginning, when I picked out my coffin, the undertaker asked me if I wanted to jump in and give the coffin a tryout. I cringed with disgust. He told me that it was just a joke of the profession.


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## squatting dog

Think I'll go with the third option.


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## Timewise 60+

squatting dog said:


> Think I'll go with the third option.
> 
> 
> View attachment 239555


Yep, Garden Compost!


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## Packerjohn

I will be cremated so it's the fire for me, rather than the worms and maggots.  My cremation has been paid for.  I have outlived 2 wives and both were cremated.

Here is a question for all ya religious types.  When I get to paradise all my family and friends will be waiting there to greet me.  Right?  I have no problem with that but what about my 2 wives.  Do I get to pick which wife I want or I don't?  I predicate that there might be one very happy woman and one very angry woman.  What do you think?


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## JaniceM

Packerjohn said:


> I will be cremated so it's the fire for me, rather than the worms and maggots.  My cremation has been paid for.  I have outlived 2 wives and both were cremated.
> 
> Here is a question for all ya religious types.  When I get to paradise all my family and friends will be waiting there to greet me.  Right?  I have no problem with that but what about my 2 wives.  Do I get to pick which wife I want or I don't?  I predicate that there might be one very happy woman and one very angry woman.  What do you think?


How do you know you and the former wives will all be going to the same place?  

(sorry, couldn't resist..)


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## Saph

Just came from a funeral in IL. $10K funeral home services, no embalming, only gravesite service. No real choice of caskets due to pandemic so cheapest one $4.5k and included in above number. Another $10K for burial plot, vault (required in IL). Headstone not included. Another $3k between religious service gravesite, incidentals, etc.

Just either put me in the ground in a shroud or better cremate and spread the ashes in the forest near my home. Simpler the better.


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## deaver

this has already been hashed and rehashed


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## ElCastor

Cremation for me. What, after all is said and done in a burial? Nothing more than a name carved in a stone. Our names and thoughts carved in the Internet are a far better remembrance. Here is another far more useful remembrance  carved in the fabric of a beautiful sampler …

“Industry taught in early days, not only gives the Teachers praise, but gives us pleasure when we view the work that innocence can do. Go on dear child learn to excel, improve in work and reading well, for Books And Works do Both contend to make the Housewife and the Friend.
Elizabeth A Wiles Aged 10, March 20th 1843”

Those words are part of a masterful sampler that was found folded in a quilt in San Jose, California 30 years ago. I am familiar with samplers. I see similar stitching every year in the Marin County Fair and none compare to the work of the 10 year old Elizabeth A Wiles. Elizabeth your work on this cloth will preserve your memory far better than a name chiseled on a stone. Rest in peace.


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## sch404

I will be composted. We are environmentally friendly here in Cali. You can find me in the lawn and garden section of your local Home Depot.


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## Beezer

I understand head transplants are coming with the fast advance in medical procedures.

But I'd never donate my head for transplant after I die. I owe so many people so much money, the poor sap who got my head would never get a moment's peace.


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## mrstime

We paid for our cremations several years ago. A plain pine box of ashes will go to the surviving spouse, or our son. He can dispose of them anyway he wishes.


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## Sunny

Definitiely cremation. My husband and I bought a lovely marble bench with a hollowed-out base that contains the container(s) of ashes. His are already in there. It's a beautiful, park-like cemetery, lots of nice trees, etc. The cemetery has traditional gravestones also; I suspect that lots of modern cemeteries give people a choice.


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## Timewise 60+

Does anyone know how long it takes for a concrete tomb, with a large casket in it, with an embalmed body take to compost?  I am not trying to be funny or gross, I just wonder.  1,000 + years or ?   That's why I do not want to be put in the ground...


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## ElCastor

Cremated and scattered in a California bay. A name carved into a headstone is hardly immortality or some sort of remembrance.


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## Myquest55

Timewise 60+ said:


> Does anyone know how long it takes for a concrete tomb, with a large casket in it, with an embalmed body take to compost?  I am not trying to be funny or gross, I just wonder.  1,000 + years or ?   That's why I do not want to be put in the ground...


They are created NOT to compost - never.


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## NorthernLight

Don't care. I'll be dead.


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## spectratg

Myquest55 said:


> They are created NOT to compost - never.


Never is a long time.  The entire planet and everything in/on it will be dust and ashes some day.


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## BC Flash

60 years a diabetic, no amputation, no blindness, reasonably healthy, live alone and walk 2 to 3miles/day with Flash (dog).   I am donating my body to the medical school in the hopes that future doctors will realize that a healthy lifestyle has a bearing on aging.    Eventually, my ashes will be scattered with past dogs' ashes into the ocean.


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## David777

Qualify for a veteran's cemetery burial.  However if I know I'm dying, will likely beforehand go to any of many places out in high Sierra Nevada wilderness I've visited in large talus boulder fields where searchers would never find my remains and the vast universe above looks down on what was me.


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## Pookie

I want to be cremated, and we have paid for it.


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## Timewise 60+

Myquest55 said:


> They are created NOT to compost - never.


Everything eventually breaks down and turns to dirt or dust...it may take thousands of years, "ashes to ashes, dust to dust"


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## Raddragn

I have had a totally paid for burial for 8 or 9 years . I didn't want to have my kids foot the expense.


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## Alligatorob

Timewise 60+ said:


> Does anyone know how long it takes for a concrete tomb, with a large casket in it, with an embalmed body take to compost?  I am not trying to be funny or gross, I just wonder.  1,000 + years or ?   That's why I do not want to be put in the ground...


It will happen, sooner or later.  Depends a lot on the subsurface conditions, moisture (leaks in concrete are inevitable), temperature, oxygen, etc.  Geologically the time will come, hundreds to millions of years...  Nothing is forever.


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