I’m Back and Ready to Talk About Death

It’s been two months since I stopped writing blog posts. It appears that has been too long. It turns out I missed writing the posts. I stopped mostly because I thought I was running out of things to write about.  I think I just need to go a little deeper. I hope you missed them too and we can pick up where we left off.

Speaking of going a little deeper…I’m sure you noticed the word death in my title. Don’t worry. I’m fine!  But, at 67, death is something that comes into your mind now and then.  At least it does mine.  But, again, I am fine except for an upcoming January surgery in which part of my colon will be removed because of nasty diverticulae!

I am reading a book right now called “Underland”.  The first chapter is all about burial practices from very early times. That got me thinking about how we dispose of our dead in 2019. My own early days, the 50s and 60s, there was pretty much only one way to go. Someone would die, and they would be taken to funeral home. The funeral director would prepare the body for a viewing followed by a trip to the cemetery the next day.

Today there are many options. Cremation seems to be the majority choice these days.  Other options are being buried without preparation, basically put in the ground, as is, with just a tarp.  You can also be mulched and mixed with tree seeds and become a living tree.  Of course, the traditional funeral still exists if you are old school.

As I have written before, my choice is cremation. But I have gone back and forth on what happens to my ashes.  I could be buried near my daughter, but in the cremation part of the cemetery, not really next to her. Plus, just to be buried in the cemetery cost over a thousand dollars. I’d rather that money go elsewhere.  An urn is a wonderful idea. But what happens a few generations later and someone now has my ashes and they only know I was from some earlier generation. They may know almost nothing about me. What then…the dumpster?  I hope not.

My compromise position is to have my kids put my ashes into Slatington’s Trout Creek, at the old trestle that is the beginning of the section of the creek that was the setting of my childhood. Good times. And yes, I know it is illegal to put remains into a public waterway. But I have been a rule follower all of my life. My first and last act of anarchy!   Anyway, it would be my kids getting arrested, not me!

So that ends my return to blogging. I intend to write again soon. Perhaps on a more upbeat topic, like the great smelling brownies I just took out of my oven.