5 ms·
Somewhat topical story: A co-worker was part of a jogging group (this was in Virginia, USA), and one of their members died after a fight with cancer. He wanted
by ergothus 11y ago
Somewhat topical story: A co-worker was part of a jogging group (this was in Virginia, USA), and one of their members died after a fight with cancer. He wanted his ashes to be spread in the Botanical Gardens, where they ran.
But said Botanical Gardens had rules denying this (don't recall if it was hygiene, environmental, or just not wanting to open the door to piles of ash).
So the group somberly gathered, took his ashes, divvied them up among a collection of plastic bags, poked some holes, and went for their normal jog around the park.
At the end the bags had only bits of bone too big to fit through the holes left. (Turns out cremation doesn't result in ONLY ash).
I haven't decided if this was a triumph of individual respect over bureaucracy, or a blatant disregard for the commons.
- refurb 11y agoTurns out cremation doesn't result in ONLY ash You actually end up with large, intact bones after cremation. They actually take the bones and grind them up into finer particles. I've never seen cremation, ashes, but I've been told they look similar to gravel.
- sandworm101 11y agoThe process as I understand it: (1) Prep the body by cutting out anything that will harm the cremator, specifically pacemakers with potentially explosive batteries. (2) Fire. (3) Sift through the ashes/bones for any metal (hips/metal screws) (4) Macerate remaining bits into homogeneous ash.
- DanBC 11y agoMy dad left his artifical knees to his children when he died. My sisters didn't want them, so I got them. They're mildly interesting. They're great if you have someone who fiddles around with stuff on your desk and doesn't stop when asked. "What's this?" "My dead dad's knee. That dust? That's my dead dad."
- stevesearer 11y agoThey do look similar to gravel/sand. And something that was surprising to me (although probably shouldn't have been) is that the weight of the remains definitely differs depending on the size of the person.
- dopamean 11y agoI scattered my fathers ashes in the sea last July. It was more like gravel.
- yeukhon 11y agoI recommend check out videos on the Internet, some of them are pretty high quality. I have seen the ashes myself before, yeah pretty just gravel.
- civilian 11y agoOne of my close friends died nearly three years ago, and his family and I spread his ashes in a national forest... possibly illegally, I'm not really sure. I've returned to the spot a few times. I can still find his ashes! They weren't spread out very much when we first dumped them, though I've spread them out a little since, so some mountain flowers can grow among him. His ashes form an odd cement-like sand. I'm glad our national forests aren't littered with ash piles, but I am glad that I can come back and find my friend. I wonder how long I'll be able to find Nick's ash pile.
- meric 11y agoIt sounds bittersweet. More bitter. I'm happy you're glad. I am replying because I'd get into depression if I lose my close friend and thought you might appreciate a reply, but really I don't know what to say.
- wavefunction 11y agoI spread my brother's ashes in a National Forest. It's illegal but so are a lot of things. We placed them on a large rock outcropping that meant something to our family, around 10,000 ft of elevation looking out over the fruited plains of this country at the height of summer, on his birthday. A violent storm came that night as we camped below the outcropping, lashing wind and hail and lightning upon our piteous insignificance until eventually heading to lower climes down the mountain slope. The next dawn was glorious in its vibrance and clarity.