i am a donor.

i don't want to be viewed, nor do i want to be at a funeral home. i want a service held at the church, ... this is for my mother and daddy. i want their lives to remember with mine. preach, sing, play the piano, ... the old-fashioned southern way. this is not about just me.

i want to be buried. because i'm going to rise again. like a phoenix! where i am buried, i don't mind.

make me comfortable. mesh shorts and a white tshirt. socks, i want brand new socks on lol.

life should be remembered. memory is one of our greatest gifts. i just hope the memories of me are remembered in caring, in competition, in imagination, in written words, celebrated with laughter and tears. yes, tears. i love tears.

the rumors are true
 

Organ donor-yes
cremated-yes
ashes thrown out over Heinz Field-hell yes!

http://www.heinzfieldhotels.com/images/teren.jpg

I am an organ donor, but because of my health I doubt they will use any part of me. When my Step-Father passed we tried to have his organs donated as per his wishes, but they disallowed him.

I wish to be cremated, and as was done for my Mother I would like a party for my family and friends to get together and remember my life.

I don't think this is morbid at all...realistic is more like it.

My mother and I have had several conversations about this lately since her cancer is what it is. She has decided to donate her body to research on Crohn's disease. As a 50 year survivor of it, they may be able to learn some things from her body after she's gone. She wants no funeral at all....it's a family tradition. We just don't do them. She said that her friends can gather at Dunkin Donuts and have a cup of tea and a cruller in her honor. Her family can do what they want (since they always have...and none of them are close).

As far as my own body, I'd like to donate whatever is usable, although I doubt any of it will be given my health issues. What's left can be cremated. I like roses, and roses like ashes....act accordingly.

Everything I own goes to my son.

Very interesting thread.


This book is the famous (infamous?) expose of the American funeral industry. It is extremely informative, and wicked funny! It's by Jessica Mitford. I had to have it, if only for the cover.

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/American-Way-Death-Revisited/dp/0679771867/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319499717&sr=1-2"]http://www.amazon.com/American-Way-Death-Revisited/dp/0679771867/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319499717&sr=1-2[/ame]

Wait a minute. Didn't somebody post a similar picture of themselves..and maybe with their partner? I feel like people were having a picnic or something. Was it Medusa? Like a year or so ago.

So.

When I was dealing with colon cancer last/this year I thought about death for the first time. Well, it was the first time I thought about my death, anyway.

What struck me was that it was important to me that people remembered me after I died. Not remembered me FOR something. Just remembered me. I thought about how when an acquaintance dies I might feel sad about their loss, but that eventually I think about the person less and less.

My thought was that it was important to me that the people who were close to me not forget me quickly. What that means exactly, I don't know. I just know I had that thought often during my surgery/chemo induced haze (that really I swear I didn't come out of until like a month ago even though I finished chemo 6 months ago). I am not so sure what all is behind that psychologically, but this is what I remember focusing on.

In terms of my own funeral/burial, etc. I signed up to donate all organs, but I suppose now that wouldn't make sense since I had cancer/chemo? Or, at least they shouldn't take my parts I don't think. Sure, all of us have cancer cells floating around, but most likely I have more than most. And not to be morbid or anything, but there certainly is a solid chance that I have a tiny tumor in an organ somewhere that will become known to me in a few or more years. A tumor that is currently too small for a scan to pick up on. No, I do not think anyone should have my organs.

Anyway...

I don't really care what happens with my body. I do want to be cremated and don't want my body to be viewed. My mother will no doubt want some sort of service at her church and I am fine with that. I also have a plot next to my mother and father (evidently, they were cheap at the time, so my parents figured they would buy me one too, "in case I never got another plot and needed it"...thanks mom and dad!). If I die any time soon I am ok with my ashes being buried there. Otherwise, it really doesn't matter to me.

My good DB, are you high? It shows Jessica Mitford in a crematorium. :rolleyes:

Ok, so in looking at my last post, one may think so. LOL

Now I am thinking that I dreamed it. But, there was someone that posted some sort of picture similar to this. Seriously. Maybe not a picture with members here, but something was posted in a thread somewhere. I swear.

Ask someone with a good memory for these types of things. Snow or June or something.

Thanks to the lovely tantalizingfemme!
 

http://www.butchfemmeplanet.com/gall....php?photo=500

Medusa at mausoleum. :-)

What a great thread...
 

I read an article several months ago about the "green" funeral movement. If you think about it, when we bury the dead in a cemetery, we put a lot of stuff in the ground that is not good -- heavy metals, chemicals, treated wood products, etc.

I tried to find a link to the article (it was in Audubon Magazine), but I can't locate it. Here is a good link, though, to an organization that espouses "green" funerals. http://www.greenburialcouncil.org/

As for me, personally, I have to admit I haven't given much thought to it. I am a very much a "day at a time" type of person. I do know I'm not big on a church thing. I'd just rather it be some sort of non-denominational memorial type thing with a nice party afterward.

No. Frigging. Way. I can't believe that! Hope she sees this. It's kind of... double eerie.

columbarium?

Six Feet Under had a few episodes about green burials. There were some pretty visceral details, but seemed good to me. (I think I read that the land might be a problem--is it that it shouldn't get into the water table or something?) I don't know, but it's an interesting topic to research.

Okay folks...I am in Hospice care at home. Today I got oxygen delivered. I have COPD and there is no cure. Hospice is wonderful and the people are caring and make sure that you have what you need to live out your life as comfortable as possible. I have written my wishes in the booklet they gave me and also have copies for family and I carry a copy in the car. I am still out and about and go out and do things. I was never afraid to live, and I am not afraid to die. I will keep you posted on the process of dying if you want..

Gina

Take whatever organs still work then send me to ashes and sprinkle me in my garden.

I have a will and all my loved ones already know this. Just in case here is my desires. Take all the parts you want , cremate the rest. But here is the most important part. Instead of a wake and a funeral, I want a huge party! Catered in a huge place with a big dance floorand lots of tables and chairs. Free open bar. With a champagne fountain. I want a band or a real good DJ. They can request any song or music they want. But they must play these 2 songs, and when they do everyone must get on the dance floor and dance. Even if you are in a wheelchair. The Hokey Pokey, and the chicken dance. Because you can't dance to those songs without laughing or at least smile. I promise if I can be there somehow come back for a few minutes to be with you for those two songs I will. Then at the end of the evening after everyone has eaten well , drank their fill and danced, they will go outside for one awesome fireworks show. And those who know me, know if I can be there with you for that, I wouldn't miss it.

I am with you on the party Jagg!!! And there will be one...:)

Gina (too busy to stay here)..

My parents as well as my teachers from India, have tried to teach me to remain even-minded through all the vicissitudes of life. If I saw a movie that made me cry I was told to stop, it is only a movie. If someone was sick or dying, I was expected to sustain positive vibes or be scolded. When I saw my parents dying I cried, and was told to leave the room. Death and suffering were hardly talked about in my house or among my family unless, it was to give medicine and sympathy in soothing whispers, or practice opposition positivity. At funerals and such, there was no partying or crying. I was to give honor and respect. So when it is time for me to kick off this frame, I want to do it quietly and disappear. The way I am living now. No drama or I miss you.

I am a United States Marine and I've always been very proud of that fact and of the bond I share with my brothers and sisters who also wear that title proudly. Some of the most special moments of my life have been spent in the company of my fellow Marines and when I die, I'd like to rest in their company for all time. I can think of no higher honor and no finer place to rest in peace. So, with that in mind, here are my final wishes.

I am an organ donor, so I'd like whatever I might have left and useable to be donated to help another live or have a higher quality of life, if possible. After that, I want to be cremated and have my ashes interred at the Beaufort National Cemetery, outside the gates of Marine Corps Recruit Depot at Parris Island, South Carolina. I'd like a military funeral with a small detachment of Marines present to present the flag to my family members present. Also, Beaufort, SC, is only 35 miles from my home town of Savannah, GA., so that will mean that I am finally home.

Theo :bouquet:...via Blackberry. :)

As posted elsewhere, after attending enough funerals, my biggest hope is that there will be no preachers at my funeral. A year and a half ago, a pagan friend of mine committed suicide, and his deeply Christian family felt it necessary to blame his religion for his death. Not only did they burn his altar items, but the preacher at his funeral told the crowd of mourners that he had prayed each of us live miserable lives until and only if we accepted Jesus Christ as our savior. I stood there between two atheist friends, myself a pagan, and throngs of his young friends who may or may not have been Christian. It sounded to my ears like a sinister curse.

And there was my limit with preachers at funerals. Maybe one day I will change my mind. I want to be buried somewhere neglected enough that perhaps someone can plant some white irises on my grave. Might be nice if someone could slip a few coins in my pocket before I go underground.

the arrangement of my remains are for the living, not me. It's their way to deal with death so it's up to them. I would *prefer* if my brain was donated to neurological research and my body to where ever it's needed (even if it's just for medical students to cut up, wtf do I care, I'm dead, I'm not going to know fuck all)

However, if there is anyone that gives a toss when I cork it (parents might be dead, I won't have kids and I may not have a partner) and it matters to them, let them do what they like. Death arrangements are for the living to help them adjust and let go. So it's really for them to decide.

I've told everyone and anyone who will listen that they should pull the plug if I can no longer ride my motorcycles. I want everything and anything on or in my body that's still useful to be harvested/recycled. I'm the long-term beneficiary of a cadaver ACL in my left knee, and I very much wish to return the favor. With interest.

I want to be cremated, and I want my ashes sprinkled off a motorcycle riding down the Blue Ridge Parkway. Then I want a memorial party. It doesn't have to be fancy, but I demand good, funny stories, and I want some pictures of me at every age to prod memories. If there's anyone still left alive to tell them, I want my friends to tell all their favourite tales about me, even the embarrassing ones, and I want everyone to laugh until their faces hurt.

I would like my body taken out in the middle of the ocean and dumped. But I have to accept that's not going to happen.

I am claustrophobic so as irrational as it seems I am freaked out at the thought of being buried. I'm not that fond of being closed up in a furnace either but I imagine that's fairly fast, at least compared to the length of time you can be stuck in a coffin after being buried. And after I am cremated I would appreciate someone taking me for a boat ride and dumping my ashes at sea. (and I mean dump, in reality there's way too much to toss just open the bag and dump it over the side) I don't want any kind of service at all. Nothing. No mourning type shit.

Before any of that I have no problem with being practice for medical students. Well not way before, I want to be dead first of course.

All this is dependent on if there is any one still around who gives a fat rat's ass about my death. If there is I think they will enjoy knowing they are saying good bye in the way I would have wanted.

If there isn't I really won't know what they do with me and I guess it doesn't matter. I know I won't have a clue after the lights go out. And I seriously don't give a crap about anything after I'm dead. Put me in a clown costume if you like. Except for the irrational fixation i have about not being closed up. I don't want to be locked up in a coffin or be uncollected ashes stored in a box on a shelf somewhere. I want to be set free.

I have my will made out and my son's have a copy of it. I am a organ donor and they can use what they can. Unfortunately I am on Dialysis so kidneys aren't good. My son knows that I want to be cremated after everything is done scattered over Big Bear Mountain in Calif. Due to my Native American beliefs all ashes will be scattered. All I have is left to my son's.

There are companies that offer the service of making diamonds from the carbon in your hair or after cremation. This can be done while you are still alive or after death. A holographic picture or message can be engraved into the diamond. It can be set in the jewelry of your choice. This may be a tad morbid for some but for people that are leaving behind loved ones who are very sentimental this might be comforting.

I am an organ donor. After that I really don't care what happens. Whatever arrangements "they" want to make (mother, girlfriend), I don't care. I thought that was odd of me, but then I read HB's post and I feel better.

That is all. :byebye:

I would have loved to have this from my half brother zack. he was five years younger and we only shared one parent (my biomom) but he was physically and emotionally my twin. I had heard about it later but the cost was extortionate.

I know people that get some of the ashes tattooed into a piece of tattoo art. I think it's illegal, but ash is sterile when made and if kept properly it stays that way.