Thread Drift

[Fredwina]

I remeber keeping on thinking/imagining that dad would walk through the door, so seeing the body lifeless helps. We did close the casket during the service.
I remember when I lived in PA, one of friends MIL died - she did a willed body donation, but my friend was quite torn by the fact that there was no body and no sevices whatsoever, which I've always kept in the back of my mind re: my memorial service

[Aggie_Ama]

My mom's friend died last year and was cremated so it was odd because the memorial had no pictures. I don't know. A lot of people are cremated but they still have visitation and open casket for that because I guess you need a casket to cremate? Can you specific which school gets you? I sure don't want to be stuck in the UT med school, I mean the A&M one would be alright or probably Baylor College of Medicine because they are some of the best so might as well go to the tops in Texas right?

My husband's college roommate's dad was/is a funeral home director. He had the duty of being the only funeral home not destroyed by Rita so he stayed eating MREs and taking in Katrina and Rita's dead for at least a month before they even had power. I can't even imagine. His son is a vet, I guess he didn't want to pursue the family business.

I still think I see my Pawpaw or hear him and I put my hand on his lapel before they lowered the casket cover. It isn't as bad since we sold his house though.

[Fredwina]

Mu understanding is that you need an agreement between a Med school and your estate. One of my friends at church is an atty , and she said she could draw something up. I'll probably talk to my MD when I see her next month.

[redrhodie]

You don't need a casket to cremate. It's probably just for the viewing.

Maybe they're rentals? If they don't do that, they should. Far better for everyone than burning them.

[Aggie_Ama]

There is something comical, practical and a bit gross about the idea of a rental casket!

I just talked to the manager of LBS and he personally recycles CO2 canisters. I don't have curbside and the bike shop kept saying no but I kept them thinking somewhere there was a way. Woohoo, the LBS is next door to work I can just take the box of them to him and he can get the 1 cent or whatever.

[Bruno28]

This is joyous. Well, it is thread drift after all....


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyQOC...eature=related

[Crankin]

I understand what you mean by pagan. It's probably not the real meaning of the word, but it just seems totally weird to me, to want to see a dead body. I know it's because in my tradition, we don't see them. Oh, there's a group of dedicated people who volunteer at Jewish funeral homes and clean/dress the body/sit with it before burial. We don't do embalming, either. That's why the funerals occur quickly.
When my mom died, the funeral director asked me if I wanted to see her before the service. I said no. I want to remember her the way she was in life.

[OakLeaf]

This is joyous. Well, it is thread drift after all....


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyQOC...eature=related

Very nice.

DH and I had the great privilege of hearing Jorma Kaukonen and David Bromberg play together at Jorma's Fur Peace Ranch this summer. What a show!

[Zen]

This is joyous. Well, it is thread drift after all....


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyQOC...eature=related

Now you got me spending half an hour at least on that set of videos.
"Will The Circle Be Unbroken" was a very popular album amongst my group of friends in high school...

[Bruno28]

my group of friends

Now, now - don't exaggerate

[Zen]

Alright Bruno, here's where I break the neck off the beer bottle and you pick up a pool cue...

[Selkie]

I understand what you mean by pagan. It's probably not the real meaning of the word, but it just seems totally weird to me, to want to see a dead body. I know it's because in my tradition, we don't see them. Oh, there's a group of dedicated people who volunteer at Jewish funeral homes and clean/dress the body/sit with it before burial. We don't do embalming, either. That's why the funerals occur quickly.
When my mom died, the funeral director asked me if I wanted to see her before the service. I said no. I want to remember her the way she was in life.

Exactly. I'm a Catholic and feel the same way. I saw neither of my parents dead bodies but I experienced a very intense spiritual connection with my mom when she died. As a result, I'm no longer afraid of death.

[Tuckervill]

I understand what you mean by pagan. It's probably not the real meaning of the word, but it just seems totally weird to me, to want to see a dead body.

You really want to use the name of someone's religion as an adjective to describe something you find "weird"?

Not picking on you Crankin. I just don't think you'd want anyone using Jew as an adjective like that, as in, "A closed casket is so jewish."

I would like to hear what the OP means by using pagan in such a manner.

Karen, not a Pagan

[tulip]

Exactly. I'm a Catholic and feel the same way. I saw neither of my parents dead bodies but I experienced a very intense spiritual connection with my mom when she died. As a result, I'm no longer afraid of death.

When my grandmother died, I felt very close to her even though I was 700 miles away. I was traveling from a meeting while she was dying, and felt so clear and calm. I was thinking of her. When I got back to the office, I asked a few colleagues if they wanted to go get some ice cream. Four of us went down to the ice cream shop, and I ordered a rootbeer float. For some reason, everyone ordered a rootbeer float. When we all had our rootbeer floats, I made a toast to my grandmother, whose favorite treat was a rootbeer float. We moseyed back to the office, and when I got back, I had a message on my phone that my grandmother had just died, while we were all enjoying our rootbeer floats in her honor. It was strange but calm, and I, too, am no longer afraid of death.

[Selkie]

You really want to use the name of someone's religion as an adjective to describe something you find "weird"?

Not picking on you Crankin. I just don't think you'd want anyone using Jew as an adjective like that, as in, "A closed casket is so jewish."

I would like to hear what the OP means by using pagan in such a manner.

Karen, not a Pagan

Karen, see my answer to Robin's post. I apologize if I was imprecise in my language and unwittingly offended you. As I said, this is my PERSONAL feeling and is not a criticism of anyone's preferences.

And, to be perfectly clear, I have nothing against Pagans and any other religion/belief. I don't appreciate your comments and presumptions.

I also could care less if people want open caskets - it's their preference, their money, and if it helps their family/friends find comfort, more power to them.