Questions for Setter4 - Cremation - You MUST be respectful!!!

[setter4]

Mrs. AK-Bird-Brain :

Wow... we didn't even thing of that when we scattered our grandmother's ashes a couple of weeks ago. We just picked a knoll overlooking the old homestead where she grew up and scattered away. It was odd... it was the first time I had done this... and it was weird dipping a cup into the ashes knowing they were her remains. There were small bits of bones and things in the ashes, but it was like sand. We threw it up in the air, and let the breeze carry it, then scattered wildflowers around the area.

But we never thought to ask permission... the ashes are sterile, so it's not an issue of biosecurity or anything, right?

Absolutely sterile. It's more an issue like tresspassing or something.​

 

[setter4]

Quote:
I only just recently found out that you can apply for a permit to scatter ashes in most national parks.

 

[setter4]

Harley's girl :

WOW!
This is the most interesting thread ever!

I plan to be cremated. After organ donations. I feel that there is no need for my family to have to come up with that amount of money in such a short amount of time. And as other people stated. We will eventually run out of room. Then my family can either keep me or scatter me.

My question is.

Is it legal to scatter?

I had a friend who lost her brother and his wishes were to be cremated. They told the funeral director that he would be scattered back home on the farm. And he told her, Absolutely not!!!! That would be contaminating the fields. And the crops that would grow there. Was he just telling her that? I live in a small town and the nearest crematory is over an hour away. Not many folks around here get cremated. I am the "odd" one in my family so to say. All of my family has been buried in one cemetery. And we expected to all be buried there. Weird huh? I said no way. They have already added on to Killbuck's cemetery 3 times in my life and I am only 28! It will only be a matter of time till there is no more room there. Then what? That's why I am getting cremated.

Thank you for being so informative!

It is absolutely legal to scatter on private property with permission. Cremated remains will NOT contaminate crops or anything else.​

 

[setter4]

Quote:
Cremated human remains must be shipped by United States Postal Service. UPS used to do it but there was a huge law suit over a lost container and they will no longer accept them.
The girls at my local postal sub-station just say "I don't want to know" when we show up with a box.

 

[setter4]

Quote:
I love it! lol
I have Glory, Angus & Barney in an urn waiting for me so we can all get scattered together someday.

 

[setter4]

Quote:
I can't say for sure about everywhere but here in Pa. cremation is considered "final disposition". That means the state considers you officially gone after cremation even though the ashes are still here. You can do whatever you want with the ashes as long as it's not illegal. Yes, you could mix them in a stepping stone. A new thing is to mix them withcement and form "reef balls" that are sunken to create habitat for fish.

 

[Cetawin]

2468Chickensrgr8 wrote:
a little off topic....very interesting topic......

We had a big loveable black Lab ...named Black "Bear" .....he loved to lay on the kitchen floor ...for the coolness of the floor and the food crumbs he could find....he would lay in a spot that I always had to step over him ...It became the normal thing for me to step over him in his old age....he's been gone over a year and a half now and I have his urn tucked away on the kitchen floor somewhere....when people ask ......"whats that"..."oh that ... I reply thats Bear"

I think that is sweet. I have my beloved Wolf's ashes in an urn sitting (had to go look) on the coffee table today. It moves around the house as much as he did when he was alive. he has been gone almost 2 years now and I still use caution to back up away from the stove (he always laid on the floor behind me when I was cooking). He and I will be buried with DH one day.​

 

[setter4]

Quote:
We do have some very strange dinner conversations with friends. lol
Bill and I went on our honeymoon to the National Concrete Burial Vault convention.

 

[AngieChick]

What an interesting thread. My beloved grandfather passed away about 20 years ago. He was cremated. After the memorial, my father and aunts hiked up Superstition Mountain to scatter his ashes. It was just my grandfather's ashes and his 3 children, exactly what he would have wanted. Every time we went to Arizona and saw that mountain, I would remember all of the wonderful times we had with my grandfather while he was alive. For me, it brought up the happy times more than the sadness of the loss. I am glad that his memory is on that mountain, versus in a cemetery. I know that for some people a burial is a form of closure and tradition, but I for one am very glad that we have choices in how to handle the death of a loved one.

Again, thank you for such an informative, candid thread.

 

[setter4]

Quote:
You could call the cemetery where the rest of his family is buried and see if you can bury your uncle on top of another family member.