Posted on 03/29/2018 10:43:25 PM PDT by wheresmyusa
I know this might turn into an uncomfortable thread. First off, i'm in my mid-40's. I don't even really know why i'm posting this. However, i have this "pull" to construct my final resting accommodations. OK, let me flash forward a little bit...
I loved my grandfather dearly. He was a man of very few words, and a lot of hard work; he was a sharecropper. I was always in awe of him. When i was a very young man, 7-ish, he started to teach me woodworking. He taught me; he made things with his hands with me. He showed me the beauty of crafting.
Now, i am not old, but i'm halfway there if i'm lucky. I remember how crushed i was that his tools (and they were all hand tools) had just gone and faded away, and became lost somehow. Just one would satisfy me.
And then it hit me.
Why should i buy a box for myself when i can make it myself. I can do this better than anyone else. He taught me.
Flash-forward. (Before my epiphany...)
I had a conversation with my father...who i obviously love dearly. I had a moment where i was absolutely truthful. I told him, if i knew the end was coming, that i would buy a vessel and sail it into the biggest storm i could plan for; Lt. Dan style.
Want to think about me? The ocean is the best gravestone, and one needs to only go there to be with me.
My fathers reaction was excoriating. He blasted me so hard for my selfishness. How dare i, in all of my ego; deprive those who loved me a place to grieve. That was striking.
I began to think on the subject. Who better than i, to have a say in what fashion i'll be laid to rest? Why not take what i've been given, and put it all to good use? I'm not a woodworker or carpenter; but i have the skills.
Is it a morbid concept, in your opinion, to build your own box?
Sounds like that old joke:
“Would you rather be buried down by the lake or up on the hill?”
“Surprise me.”
“( An Armed Society is a Polite Society. An Unarmed Society is North Korea.)”
Your tagline is awesome!
My father worked with wood. When he died, he was buried in a beautfully worked cherrywood casket. The only thing I could think as it was lowered into the concrete vault was that that splendid wood would never be seen again.
My father would have thought that a waste.
If you want to use your skills, make something for your loved ones that they can see every day and recall the love that went into it.
Kind of a cool idea. Make it so it’s dual use. Coffee table or something until you need it for the intended purpose.
I won’t need one. My will instructs that I be cremated and my ashes spread along US-2 in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula from a Porsche at 110 mph (double the speed limit)
a number of people do, and there are monks and monasteries who sell them ready to put together or to serve as bookcases until the time the coffins are needed.
look up coffins and monasteries and you will find several versions.
That sounds a bit like my dad. He had everything worked out so all his wife had to do was make one phone call.
Cremation. No service. She held a memorial a few months later at the clubhouse at the old peoples community they lived in.
those people know how to hold a funeral. Very simple. A few of his poker buddies said how they liked playing with him but knew he was just playing them to take their money. The VFW showed up for some reason. (he was a peacetime veteran) I think they mistook him for someone else.
I found out that his wife’s son led him to the Lord shortly before he died.
My brother and I then divided a few personal belongings and left the rest to his wife. We also shredded 50 years of tax returns.
His finances were also in great order. My brother was the executor and all he left was money, no stuff so it was a simple division. His wife got the house and all the stuff, plus enough money to live out her life very comfortably.
“Hermetically Sealed Caskets” Airtight causes the body to liquify and caskets sometimes explode. Caskets with air exchange allow the body to mummify. Check out the various UTube videos.
I'd rather be cremated than have my body consumed by night crawlers and other nasty bugs.....
Many years ago my memories are of a childhood.
It happened once. It shall happen again.
Death has never halted childhood.
There was an article very recently, maybe even on FR about people who built their own coffins but incorporated the slightly disassembled boxes into their living spaces, ie bar or bookshelf, table etc. They even had plans for the project. You could google.
Cremation for me. Then my ashes cast upon the upstream waters of my favorite fishing creek. I like the idea of native trout spawning in my remains.
We would prefer a pyre, especially if it was cold.
Singapore has built very nice columbariums (like condos for ashes) since they have no space for graveyards. They can even put nice photos of the deceased on the front of each unit - which is sized at a little less than one square foot.
I have had similar thoughts about building my own box. As a person with some woodworking skills, plus being very practical, I figured I could make a very nice box for far less cost then the funeral industry would charge. Ultimately I have decided to be creamated. Had a conversation with my daughter just weeks ago about this. Honey spread some ashes at the top of Stone Mountain and in Savannah. My heart will forever be in Georgia.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-453975/The-final-WWII-ace-goes-grave-coffin-shaped-like-Hurricane-fighter.html#ixzz5BElHQUAg
I am trying to get WalMart to put in a Crematorium. They could use the heat for the building. Then install those little Post Office box looking resting places. I figure if placed in there the wife might visit my grave more often.
Many cemeteries require the coffin to be in a concrete vault (box). Why? If the coffin deteriorates the ground will sink. (This is not the sinking caused by the fill dirt settling.)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.