Cremation or Burial?

[PineappleMama]

Burn Baby Burn.

I'd much rather think of a loved one (or myself) being burned up, quick and done, than to think they'll (I'll) be slowly being eaten by some seriously nasty critters. Bluh.

 

[Rozzie]

x

 

[AKsmama]

My first choice would be being donated to the Body Farm, but whether they take you depends on whether they have room, I think I have read somewhere. Not sure about that though. Other than that I want a green burial. To be preserved and put in a big metal/plastic/composite/whatever box makes no sense to me. We live close to a green cemetary in Oconee County, SC, so that is a definitely possibility. Cremation would be ok with me as well. The only thing I don't want is a viewing. I mean, if my family wants to see my body, ok, but I don't like the idea of my friends and distant relatives looking at my dead body. I want to be remembered as a living person, not as a dead shell.

My husband always says to use the backhoe and bury him in the backyard.

 

[PineappleMama]

^Room, apply in advance, you're responsible for all transportation costs... etc.

My aunt looked into that in detail and shared.

 

[JetBlack]

I want to be encased in Lucite, like a scorpion.

 

[mom'sfolly]

I'm sort of surprised by the number of people here who are creeped out by the natural processes of decay. I find the idea of embalming much yuckier. Having worked with medical students, and read too much about the sale of body parts donated for science, I don't really like that option.

 

[suzyq53511]

I want to be cremated so people can't look at me when i'm dead. Yes i'm weird!

 

[SilverPhoenix]

LOL JetBlack, I love your response!

In all seriousness, I want to be cremated when I die and so do both of my parents. The thought of my body just sitting in a box and rotting... Ehh, I'll pass. I would much rather be turned to ash and spread somewhere that means something to me. If not cremated, my second choice would be a nature-friendly burial where I'm just in the ground without a casket and allowed to rot and become part of the earth again.

Also, definitely no viewings. I seriously cannot understand why someone would want to see their relatives dead...? Or have their body placed out for people to see. I don't know, that's just strange to me. I've seen a lot of dead critters, I have no real reservations about dead things, but purposefully placing a dead body out for everyone to look at (for a non-scientific purpose) just seems strange to me.

 

[Amyable]

Green burial. Wrap me in a cloth or simple pine box, no embalming. Let my body nourish the earth when I'm gone. Hopefully when that time comes, there will be more green burial sites in my state.

A facinating book on the subject is Grave Matters. Explains the embalming process (

), traditional burial, cremation, home viewings, green burial, etc.

 

[scbatz33]

I suppose you could apply to be cut up and put on display for "Body World". The toured this around for awhile. Dont' know where it is now......http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_Worlds