# To be buried or cremated?



## Bigshadow (Jan 4, 2007)

What are your thoughts about being buried or cremated?  Is there any information on how this affects the environment of the future, especially with our over-populated planet?  Would cremation be a better alternative by saving space and being less of a possible bio hazard?

I think cremation, is the best way to go.  I also think it releases ones energy back into the universe more quickly while not leaving much on the environment.

This is something that my brother and I were discussing recently and I thought it would be a great discussion.


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## Andrew Green (Jan 4, 2007)

Doesn't really matter to me.  I'll be dead, do with me as you please 

As long as no one spends $1000's of dollars on a fancy box to put me in or a big rock to put over me (Don't worry, I promise not to try and climb out as a undead creature) I'm ok with whatever gets rid of me the easiest.

Cremate or compost both are fine.

Maggots need to eat as well, and my rotting carcoss will probably be pretty tasty.  I've also heard that a insulating rubber layer to keep moisture out is good for keeping the gases that form from decompossing in, which can lead to a explosion, that would be pretty cool.  Now, are you planning on eating that last donut?


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## Lisa (Jan 4, 2007)

Andrew Green said:


> Doesn't really matter to me.  I'll be dead, do with me as you please
> 
> As long as no one spends $1000's of dollars on a fancy box to put me in or a big rock to put over me (Don't worry, I promise not to try and climb out as a undead creature) I'm ok with whatever gets rid of me the easiest.
> 
> ...



:lfao:  :lfao:

You are skin and bone!  They will starve!

As for me, cremate me please!  Don't care what you do with the ashes but I don't want maggots eating me!  I know, I will be dead, but the thought just creeps me out just the same.


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## Xue Sheng (Jan 4, 2007)

Cremated... and then have someone I trust go to people I don't like and throw ashes at them saying Xue says HI 

Actually it matters not to me I won't be around to care.


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## MA-Caver (Jan 4, 2007)

I agree that it won't matter when you're dead. 
I've told several people to go ahead and cremate me and then take half my ashes put them in an urn and take THAT urn and put it down the bottom of a very deep cave that I know and then the other half to be scattered into a flowing stream at the bottom of yet another very deep cave so that my ashes will be exploring the unknown parts of the cave that no human can travel through. :uhyeah:


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## Cryozombie (Jan 4, 2007)

Personally, I am planning to be taxidermed and kept around for the grandkids.​


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## MA-Caver (Jan 4, 2007)

Cryozombie said:


> Personally, I am planning to be taxidermed and kept around for the grandkids.​



Well that's all well and good, but don't cha gotta HAVE kids first before you have grandkids?


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## shesulsa (Jan 4, 2007)

Cremated for me.  

One thing I don't want is my children to feel the need to visit some reminder of their pain (or happiness, pooh on them) or anything like that.  

I don't want a stone or box or anything else tying me to the earth and I don't want someone to put my ashes on some mantel only to get tipped over and vaccuumed up or pooped in by the cat ... free me in the ocean wind over the Tahiti Express, thank you very much.


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## Flatlander (Jan 4, 2007)

Cryozombie said:


> Personally, I am planning to be taxidermed and kept around for the grandkids.​


My original idea was to be bronzed, then put in a comfortable looking position sitting on a park bench on a golf course.  However, I have come to learn of this option, and find it intriguing......


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## shesulsa (Jan 4, 2007)

Cryozombie said:


> Personally, I am planning to be taxidermed and kept around for the grandkids.​


My husband keeps threatening to do this so that he can "stay around" for "me."  :shrug: :barf:


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## Rich Parsons (Jan 4, 2007)

What I want is a big huge fire with body on top to go up and everyone can sing and dance. (* Some for the loss, and some because I will be gone.  *) 

I know that this most likely will not happen. So just plain old cremation.


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## morph4me (Jan 4, 2007)

I told my wife to put me in one of those stretchy garbage bags and put me out on trash day. I won't know the difference, but now that I see that I can be made into jewelry


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## shesulsa (Jan 4, 2007)

Rich Parsons said:


> What I want is a big huge fire with body on top to go up and everyone can sing and dance. (* Some for the loss, and some because I will be gone.  *)
> 
> I know that this most likely will not happen. So just plain old cremation.


How about a viking burial?


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## Rich Parsons (Jan 4, 2007)

shesulsa said:


> How about a viking burial?




Well I thought of that. But it would require being burned on a ship and having my wife burn with me. (* Old ways *) If I have a wife in the future, she should be able to choose her own way. But having a nice boat filled with *MY STUFF* go up in flame with me would be cool.


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## kachi (Jan 4, 2007)

Andrew Green said:


> Maggots need to eat as well, and my rotting carcoss will probably be pretty tasty.



This is a bit of a gross question but anyway,
I'm confused, is it just myth that maggots eat your corpse? Because maggots come from flies and that means that everyone that dies would have had to, at some point, had a fly lay it's young in your dead body... And alot of people that die would be put in a body bag soon after, then in the morgue, then to the coffin, therefore the flies are unable to reach them at all. So there can't really be maggots in all corpses can there?


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## Don Roley (Jan 4, 2007)

My father had an ex-wife before he married my mother. From what I understand from him, she made a holy vow in front of several people she was going to find out where he was buried and dance on his grave. She had already done it with another husband.

As per his request, we cremated him and scattered the ashes at sea....:lfao:


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## FearlessFreep (Jan 4, 2007)

_Cremated... and then have someone I trust go to people I don't like and throw ashes at them saying Xue says HI_

That would be a lot more fun if you just were embalmed and chopped into recognizable chunks...such as throwing your dead hand at someone


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## bydand (Jan 4, 2007)

I have come to realize what an increadably warped bunch we are here on MT.  

Personally, I'll be dead so I won't give a rip one way or the other, but if I had to pick; I'll take the hefty bag route.  Probably have to be a lawn & leaf bag to fit my big butt into though.  Aside from that, creamate me and flush the ashes, everybody says I have a potty mouth and that would be fitting, just don't send a chaser right away.  At least give me the dignity of a double flush.


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## elder999 (Jan 4, 2007)

My body will be sky buried...barring that, I'm leaving instructions to dress me in an aloha shirt, put my hat on my head and a beer in my hand and put me out with that week's trash.


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## Ceicei (Jan 4, 2007)

elder999 said:


> My body will be sky buried...barring that, I'm leaving instructions to dress me in an aloha shirt, put my hat on my head and a beer in my hand and put me out with that week's trash.


Are you related to Bernie? :wink:

- Ceicei


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## Ceicei (Jan 4, 2007)

Not sure how I'd like my body to be handled when I'm already dead.  I keep thinking I'll have a violent death.  

I know the most likely way would be to be traditionally buried, but I wouldn't mind being cremated and having my ashes scattered by a hang-glider.  If I haven't hang-glided before then, I can finally do that...

- Ceicei


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## Cryozombie (Jan 4, 2007)

Ceicei said:


> Are you related to Bernie? :wink:
> 
> - Ceicei



Thats what I was thinking


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## SFC JeffJ (Jan 4, 2007)

Don't waste the real estate.  Cremate me and throw my ashes over "Bruce" at the JFK Warfare Center at Bragg.  Or the 200ft towers at Benning.  I'm ok with either.

Jeff


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## Grenadier (Jan 4, 2007)

I always hated it when I have to visit graveyards.  They're depressing, and I really don't like the memories that I have from each time that I've had to go to one (grandmother crying in such a way that everyone ended up shedding tears as well, other relatives in sheer misery, etc.).  

I'd much rather be turned into ashes, and that the ashes be used in a productive manner.  Maybe as fertilizer, or maybe as a research compound, where I (or more precisely, my ashes) will be used as a chemical standard for mass spectrometry labs, or perhaps as a nitrogenous base?  

Coffin burials seem like such a waste.  People pay thousands of dollars to have a fine work of art built.  The coffins are made of beautifully polished wood and / or metal, with very nice adornments.  Then, they throw them in a hold, and keep it out of sight...  

One thing for sure, though, I DON'T want to be buried with any of my possessions.  I'd much rather some worthy individual get some use out of my things, than to have them buried / destroyed with me.


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## Kacey (Jan 4, 2007)

Well, if I have to choose between the 2, I'd rather be cremated - Jewish law against cremation notwithstanding.  However, my preferred choice would be what my grandparents did - donate my body to a medical school for the use of the med students... that is, anything that's left after the organ donations (which they couldn't do - they both died of old age, too old to donate).


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## elder999 (Jan 4, 2007)

Grenadier said:


> I always hated it when I have to visit graveyards.


 
Funny,  they're one of my favorite places for picnics.


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## jetboatdeath (Jan 4, 2007)

I can't answer that my wife told me they would never find my body.


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## Ceicei (Jan 4, 2007)

Kacey said:


> However, my preferred choice would be what my grandparents did - donate my body to a medical school for the use of the med students... that is, anything that's left after the organ donations (which they couldn't do - they both died of old age, too old to donate).



That was another idea I had previously considered, donating my body for medical study.  Thanks for the reminder.

- Ceicei


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## shesulsa (Jan 5, 2007)

kachi said:


> This is a bit of a gross question but anyway,
> I'm confused, is it just myth that maggots eat your corpse? Because maggots come from flies and that means that everyone that dies would have had to, at some point, had a fly lay it's young in your dead body... And alot of people that die would be put in a body bag soon after, then in the morgue, then to the coffin, therefore the flies are unable to reach them at all. So there can't really be maggots in all corpses can there?



IIRC, it's not the worms (nor maggots) that eat you, it's the insects.  :idunno:


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## Don Roley (Jan 5, 2007)

Grenadier said:


> I always hated it when I have to visit graveyards.  They're depressing, and I really don't like the memories that I have from each time that I've had to go to one (grandmother crying in such a way that everyone ended up shedding tears as well, other relatives in sheer misery, etc.).



One of the advantages of being buried at sea, as my father was, is that all of his kids can now look out and see where he is buried no matter what part of the world they are in. And we are pretty scattered.

I seriously have given thought to going to a service that will freeze dry pets so that they look real and asking to have my head mounted like a hunting trophy. It all started with a debate a few years ago about people who will eat meat but won't kill an animal if they could. I have no problem with hunting, nor eating meat. I have no problem with those that won't kill animals and won't eat meat. I also have no trouble with people who eat meat and are willing  to kill. It is those that won't kill but will eat that I have trouble with.

In that spirit, I would love to have my head on the wall of some place public with a note as to who I was and why I asked to be mounted with a comment to the effect of "think about it." The only thing that holds me back is getting all the various parties to go along with it and the cost it may cause to my family to see daddy mounted on a wall somewhere.

Yeah, I'm warped. I have issues after all.....


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## Bigshadow (Jan 5, 2007)

shesulsa said:


> How about a viking burial?



That sounds like my kind of burial!  Valhalla look out!


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## bushi jon (Jan 5, 2007)

Creamated and put in everyones cereal and eaten one last time


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## Jade Tigress (Jan 5, 2007)

Interesting topic. I'm not sure for myself yet. It is something I have thought about. I've always assumed I'd be buried because that's what my family does. The jewelry, I've heard of that. Part of me thinks it's kind of cool, then there's a part of me that feels it's kind of morbid. I don't know. Have to get used to new ideas I guess. I like the idea of having my ashes scattered over some exotic tropical place.

I'll try to make this short...my father died 3 days before his 52nd birthday in '88. My parents were divorced and my father was indigent. He was sick for many years and by the time he got into the hospital he was wasted away to nothing. He died 2 weeks later. Neither me, my sister, nor my mom had any money and couldn't take responsibilty for the body so the hospital took care of it. "Potters grave". It's sad. There have been many, many times I wish I had a grave site to visit. And I don't know if they cremate, bury in a potter's grave, or what they really do. It's difficult not knowing "where" he is. Somehow I would be comforted if I had a grave site to visit. To sit there and contemplate the things of my memories of him, to perhaps talk to him. Sappy as it sounds, it can be a source of comfort, it makes remembering easier and can also facilitate healing if needed. 

Anyway, it's early and I'm not a morning person so I'm rambling here.

Carry on.


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## exile (Jan 5, 2007)

Jade Tigress said:


> It's difficult not knowing "where" he is.



Pam, he's there, inside of you. That's really where he still is.


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## Brother John (Jan 5, 2007)

I want to be cremated and then stirred into a really nice fondu for all my friends and family to enjoy.




Your Brother
John


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## Brian R. VanCise (Jan 5, 2007)

Cremated for me and the ashes thrown out over the sea down in the Key's or someplace else where it is beautiful.


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## shesulsa (Jan 5, 2007)

Ya know, when my father was in ICU, I just happened to run across a (now) very popular poem on passing.  It exemplified how I viewed what I would want people to feel upon my passing and I kept it and wound up reading it at his scattering at sea.  Years later, in an effort to get over his death and other things and move on with life, I purged it from my home.  I haven't been able to find it anywhere else since.

It went something like "don't cry for me for I am the dew on the grass and the wind and the sea" etcetera.  I just felt that he was finally free from the pain he endured for so long and it was a great comfort to me, Pam.

By the bye, if anyone has any idea of which I speak, if you would forward the info to me, I'd be most appreciative.


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## Jade Tigress (Jan 5, 2007)

exile said:
			
		

> Pam, he's there, inside of you. That's really where he still is.



Thank you. :asian:



shesulsa said:


> It went something like "don't cry for me for I am the dew on the grass and the wind and the sea" etcetera.  I just felt that he was finally free from the pain he endured for so long and it was a great comfort to me, Pam.



It sound like a beautiful and comforting poem Geo.

Off-topic, but does anyone know what hosptial's actually do with "unclaimed" bodies?


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## shesulsa (Jan 5, 2007)

Here is the poem - I finally found it!



> Do not stand at my grave and weep
> I am not there, I do not sleep
> I am a 1,000 winds that blow
> I am the diamond glints on snow
> ...



Here's another one I've always liked:



> *High Flight*
> Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
> And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings.
> Sunward I've climbed and joined the tumbling mirth
> ...


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## Cirdan (Jan 5, 2007)

I think I`d like to be buried under the roots of an apple tree. 

However I plan to live forever so there really won`t be any need for such arrangements :uhyeah:


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## Drac (Jan 5, 2007)

Cremate me..According to legend Dracula can be revived by the tears of an adult virgin pure...On second thought I just MIGHT be sitting on that shelf for quite awhile..


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## jdinca (Jan 5, 2007)

My donor card says "use the best, burn the rest." Hopefully, somebody will find something useable in my damaged carcass and then the ashes can be spread at the family cabin in Idaho.


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## Ping898 (Jan 5, 2007)

Well if possible I do want my organs donated to those who can use them, but I don't think I could ever donate my body to science...that one just doesn't sit well with me....
Personally I would like to be cremated.  My mom says she thinks that Roman Catholic's can't have their ashes spread, so I would have to check that one out, but I don't care much about my ashes, either bury them in the cemetary or if church allows it, throw them into the wind at some nice scenic spot....
The only thing I have made really clear to my family though is when I die don't bury me in a dress (assuming no cremation).  I won't wear dresses or skirts in life, I don't want to wear them in death either!


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