Confessions
Proper Period of Mourning
Over the Christmas break we were discussing the holiday show Christmas at the White House. It was fun to see the finery and traditions over the years. But December 1963 was different, the White House was dark. After the JFK assassination President Johnson declared a month long period of mourning and the White House was shrouded in black with crepe draping the door ways and chandeliers.
On the morning of December 22, the black crepe was removed and replaced by holly, wreaths, and mistletoe. Later that evening, the Christmas tree was lit. Lady Bird Johnson later wrote, “I walked the well-lit hall for the first time with the sense that life was going to go on, that we as a country were going to begin again.”
The young man that I was talking to thought a month long period of mourning was an old-school custom and would not be done today. A month? Too long. Our attention span, he said. He was speaking for the 20-25 year old young professionals that he knew.
Most people prefer the light over the dark, especially in December. And I agree that we’ve moved past the Victorian custom of draping every mirror in the house. Now, it seems that black wreaths and bunting are used for Halloween decorations. Is the idea of hanging a black wreath on the door or some hanging black ribbons out of the question when a death has occurred? Inspiration comes from the from the black feather wreaths I’ve seen. The symbolism is subtle, tactile, and the black is dramatic. It never goes out of style.
Season’s Greetings from Urn Garden
Urn Garden would like to wish you abundant peace and prosperity in the new year. Sending warm thoughts to the families that have lost loved ones and are starting new holiday traditions. Thanks for letting us serve you.
A Moment of Silence
The most wonderful time of the year? Last week was Suicide Week in the garden. It started Monday afternoon with the phone call about a former co-worker. I can say hardly say his name, or type it. Wednesday was the auspicious 12/12/12 and then the week morphed into two more families that had a mess to clean up. All were 49-50 year old white men. Some with with small children and young widows. By Friday the carnage was full blown and we had tickets to go see Mike Birbiglia at the beautiful Gillioz Theatre. Comic relief was needed.
This was one of Birbiglia’s last stops on this 2012 tour and there was no mention of the day’s tragic events at the show. Imagine trying to do comedy on such a terrible day when all you want to do is go home.
Today, Wall Street and many others are taking a moment of silence before beginning their day.
Purple Urns for Ashes
We try not to be slaves to our own tastes, but purple is one of our favorite colors. Evidently the families we serve think so too. Purple can be a complete contradiction, elegant and a little crazy. Maybe that’s why so many love this complex color. It’s definitely the reason why we curated a collection of purple urns.
The purple heart is a new design and comes in red and white as well. Metal with rich enamel and studded with sparkling crystal, the hearts are free standing sculpture that also safely store the cremated ashes. Purple Passion is a gradient or ombre effect of lavender fading to a deep plum. Both of these can be engraved.
Regarding funeral service, the color is changing. From darkness to light.
In the urn world, we noticed that the ladies love shades of purple. So we offered a line of purple urns and are one of the few distributors to do so. When we expanded our line of pet urns, we wanted to offer stylish urns in blue and purple, so we manufactured an exclusive line, our True Blue and Violet Inspiration and the families have responded.
The color purple. Brought to you by the Murex Mollusk snail.
Purple was said to be Cleopatra’s favorite color. The ancients created the unique color from the mollusk shell, and the expense was so great that only royals could afford to wear it. You can imagine the process involved, collecting the snails and then extracting the dye. Very tedious.
We’ve covered the power of purple in earlier posts. Purple has a special, almost sacred place in nature: lavender, orchid, lilac, and violet flowers are often delicate and considered precious. Because purple is derived from the mixing of a strong warm and strong cool color it has both warm and cool properties. A purple room can boost a child’s imagination or an artist’s creativity.
Warm reds and cool blues combine to make this complex hue. We’ve tried to capture the spirit of purple in our exclusive cremation urn collection that ranges from heavy cut crystal and metals to fine blown glass. Years ago, funeral urns only came in one style. Ugly. Now, there’s so many options. Modern twists on old designs. Lots of color and now, instead of a bronze vase, you can commission a sculpture that contains storage for the ashes.
Morning Glory is a family favorite, deep dark purple with hand tooled pewter accents.
Blown glass in variegated shades of lavender doubles as an art piece.
More metal styles ranging from dark eggplant to royal violet that can be personalized with laser engraving.
Visit us to see more of our purple urn collection.
