[zzdocxx]

Has anyone heard of 'keepsake urns"?

The are miniature urns for your loved one's ashes that might be distributed amongst family members.

I had not heard if these till just recently, and I'm wondering if there is some history behind these vs are they something new?

I guess they are like relics.

What do you think? Are they traditional, or a marketing ploy, or mawkish, or ?

Or is it just a matter of personal preference and what people are comfortable with?

I wonder what sociologist Paul Fussel would think about it. (Author of "Class: A Guide Through the American Status System")

Thanks!

 

[Peak and Pine]

Not familiar with specialized urns. My dad's in a coffee can out in the barn.

 

[Tweedlover]

My wife's stepmother hung on to her father's ashes til the day she died. Don't get it myself. But, where to give my ashes and my wife's the proper heave-ho when the time comes may take some thinking. Have recently read that something like 60% of folks opt for cremation nowadays which makes sense to me. I never was big on cemetaries. In fact. we had a good friend die recently and she had expressed no desire for a memorial service and none was held. Am thinking that might as well be the case for me as we're such a small family probably would only be 10 folks who'd show up anyway.

 

[Oldsarge]

My family isn't large either but when my wife died the church was filled. Memories aren't just for family.

 

[Andy]

Not familiar with specialized urns. My dad's in a coffee can out in the barn.

I had an uncle who told the family, when I die, "just put my body in a gunny sack and throw me in the river!"
Not politically/environmentally correct, but now that the EPA has been restricted.....?

 

[Dhaller]

I think Fussell would classify it as "middle class" simply because it's a way to mitigate the experience of loss (akin to "passed on" versus "died")... though it could be "class X" if something irreverent were done with them.

I myself find the notion of dividing the remains into portions a bit... roast chicken-ish?

(For me, I'm all for dust-to-dust: compost me and grow a flower garden or a tree! Will discuss with daughter in a few years.)

DH

 

[Howard]

What's the purpose of keeping a deceased person's ashes just bury him/her underground.

 

[Andy]

...(For me, I'm all for dust-to-dust: compost me and grow a flower garden or a tree! )...

Pushing up daisies?🌺

 

[fishertw]

Pushing up daisies?🌺

Andy, My account seems to have been changed from my original 2006 membership date to just last week and posts of 3 or 4 now vs the 2500+- that I had when it was changed. Can you do anything about that?? Help would be appreciated. Tom Fisher (fishertw)

 

[Andy]

Tom:
We're working on it, but contacting the new owners isn't easy. THANKS
Andy

 

[Oldsarge]

My late wife is in a columbarium at our old church. Unless something changes, I'm joining her. The niche is big enough.

 

[Big T]

I would rather keep the memories! Being a Catholic, at least half of my ashes need to be in our cemetery, and the remaining will be either swept into wood shavings in my workshop, or spread on the battlefield at Gettysburg.

 

[Peak and Pine]

I have stipulated that mine be sprinkled in with the candy corn and given out at Halloween.

 

[Howard]

I would rather keep the memories! Being a Catholic, at least half of my ashes need to be in our cemetery, and the remaining will be either swept into wood shavings in my workshop, or spread on the battlefield at Gettysburg.

I'm Jewish T, We just bury the body, I don't think My Mother and Father would want an urn of a dead person's remains, I think it would make them feel a bit uncomfortable.

 

[eagle2250]

Mrs Eagle and I struggle with some of the same issues as detailed in the posts above, but I must tell you it strikes me as somewhat ghoulish to be carrying around loved ones remains. However we do want to be buried next to each other and it is my intent to be buried in Arlington or some other military cemetery If the Mrs should precede me with the big nap, being buried together becomes somewhat problematic. Mrs Eagle seems to embrace cremation, while I, having lived a life that could land me in the fiery pits of Hell for eternity am not anxious to begin my afterlife sledding through a furnace. So who knows, I just might find myself carrying around one of those 'keepsake urns' until it is time to say goodnoght for the final time when we are unterred next to one another!

 

[Oldsarge]

"Sure as I am of God's justice, I believe there is a Hell. Sure as I am of God's mercy, I believe there is no one in it." I don't know who said it, some Catholic theologian, I think.

 

[Big T]

"Sure as I am of God's justice, I believe there is a Hell. Sure as I am of God's mercy, I believe there is no one in it." I don't know who said it, some Catholic theologian, I think.

My headmaster just before the administering of a dozen cracks with the paddle…

 

[tailored ignorance]

Howard, the last time I buried a parent, about 8 years ago, it was way more than twice as expensive to bury in the ground rather than cremate. I've heard that some cemeteries will offer to bury two coffins in the same hole, stacked over and under, to save cemetery space, regardless of the number of years between the two deaths.

The only keepsake urn I've heard of is jewelry, such as wearing your loved one's ashes around your neck like a pendant. It's sentimental, but it's also one of many marketing options at a time when decisions are numerous and difficult.

 

[Howard]

Howard, the last time I buried a parent, about 8 years ago, it was way more than twice as expensive to bury in the ground rather than cremate. I've heard that some cemeteries will offer to bury two coffins in the same hole, stacked over and under, to save cemetery space, regardless of the number of years between the two deaths.

The only keepsake urn I've heard of is jewelry, such as wearing your loved one's ashes around your neck like a pendant. It's sentimental, but it's also one of many marketing options at a time when decisions are numerous and difficult.

Well, I'm not dying, I'm going to keep on living.

 

[Howard]

Has anyone ever tried or have seen where they show you the body for a little while, while it's still corpsed for just a few days then they bury it a few days later? I can't remember what you call it but I think this one costs a bit much.