Ash Decisions
When you decide that your loved one’s ashes will be embalmed and buried, the end of the funeral and graveside service provides a sense of closure that cremation doesn’t always afford. Cremated remains, also known as ashes or cremains, can be stored in an urn or other “casket alternative” indefinitely. Since ashes are not legally required to be buried or disposed of at sea – oddly –they could start to gather dust while you figure out what to do.
Deciding How to Handle your Loved Ones’ Ashes
While you decide how to handle your loved one’s cremains, they may sit in an urn atop your mantle or on a bookcase, or even in the trunk of your car. If the location warm, dry and safe, you can take your time deciding how to proceed. Here are a few choices to consider:
What to do with ashes
- Bury ashes in a local cemetery, in a natural burial ground or at sea.
- Scatter them somewhere your loved one found meaningful.
- Divide them among family members.
- You can have a snow globe made, using your loved one’s cremains.
- Ashes can be mixed with tattoo ink, which can be used to produce a commemorative design.
- Glass art can be made using cremated remains.
- If budget allows, they can be made into diamonds.
- They can be added to fireworks.
- Include them inside a stuffed bear.
- Create a customized hourglass.
- Order a vinyl album, which has been mixed with your loved one’s ashes.
- Add them to paint, to create one-of-a-kind artwork.
- Nurture a plant or tree.
- Scatter them in a helium balloon.
- Launch them into space. (Gene Roddenberry, creator of Star Trek, took this option.)
- Truly, the sky’s the limit.
Ash Scattering Stories
- Rolling Stone Keith Richard snorted some of his father’s ashes.
- One woman in the United Kingdom slept beside her mother’s ashes for years.
- A distinguished pathologist plans to have his ashes be scattered over Tony Blair.
- Denise Moon took the ashes of her late partner to court to prove that she was not evading taxes.
- The recently deceased actress, Carrie Fischer, opted to have her ashes put into an urn fashioned into a Prozac capsule.
Ash Disposal Ceremonies
Whatever way you choose to release the ashes, make a ceremony of it. Choose a place where you can have a joyful ceremony – somewhere the practice is allowed, so you won’t have to duck behind bushes to hide the operation. If you opt to scatter your loved one’s ashes on a mountaintop, be aware that the inherent phosphate could upset ecology. And your loved one likely wouldn’t want to have become a biohazard. So, recommend you check with authorities before sprinkling your loved one’s remains somewhere that may land you in hot water. The best thing to do is to check with an experienced funeral director, such as Manny Godoy or Rocky Bautista at Foothill Funeral & Creation Services, who can point you in the right direction.
We Can Help!
Centrally located at 402 West Baseline in Glendora, Foothill Funeral & Cremation proudly serves the San Gabriel Valley, San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles Basin, Orange County and the Inland Empire. With years of experience in the mortuary industry, we have worked hard to build a reputation of quality, sincerity and trust. We would be honored to help you at your time of need or in the future. Call today (626) 335-0615 or drop by our showroom.
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