Life in the Garden

Matters of Life and Death

cremation

Grey Goose

Thanksgiving postcard

The horn in my car is ultra sensitive. So I drive around randomly honking for no apparent reason. It usually happens when I’m deep in thought, and always surprises me! So it does serve a purpose, as sort of an alarm to wake up and tune in to the traffic. Driving home tonight I startled myself and a couple of pedestrians and decided to christen the Toyota, “Grey Goose”. It feels right.

A trying week and it’s only Tuesday. On a positive note we’re refining our motorcycle urn line. The set-up is a bit tedious with all the options available, but will benefit our clients, we’re getting more requests for the motorcycle tank cremation urns.
Back in Black Motorcycle Urn

If you are looking for something special for the free spirit, take a look. Our motorcycle tank cremation urns are some of the best on the market for the money. Midwesterners tell me the motorcycle urn selections are hard to find in the some of the local markets. Here in SW Missouri I know of one funeral home that carries a very attractive tank urn, one style only and starts in the $700 range. The cool thing about the Urngarden motorcycle urns is that if you’ve got a custom paint connection, you can even buy the blank tanks and design your own personalized motorcycle memorial.

So I leave you with my mantra this week:

Wait in power of

knowing what is possible

Do not waiver

Remain Steady

Remain true to your

Goals and allow life

to carry you.

That which is

worthwhile is sometimes

created slowly.

Going Home

dove postcard
It’s becoming more common to hear of the family that decides to keep the ashes in the home. Often they have plans to inter the urn or scatter the ashes later. The cremation urn is not going to be hid away in the closet. These families want something beautiful that blends with their decor. The living area or bedroom is usually where the urn will be located.

One of our families has both her parents in a cloisonne style vase up high on a shelf. Tragically, she lost her son a couple of weeks ago and selected an exotic copper funeral urn that will be displayed on the mantle, with a piece of art from her son’s collection.

The son’s parents are Vietnam Vets who plan to be cremated and interred at Arlington. Due to the transitional nature of the rest of the family, it’s been difficult to determine a final resting place.

Cloisonne and blown glass urns are popular selections for families that want a discreet way to keep the urn close. The strength and beauty of cloisonne is an excellent choice.

Full Circle

garden greetings

Observations from the garden:

Circles. I’ve been thinking about them in so many ways.

How we are all just spinning. How our culture is connecting to our primitive beginnings with our jet packs on.

Let’s start at a basic level. Footwear. What’s the most popular style today, and also the oldest?

Flip flops.

What ancient custom in death care is making a comeback?

Duh.

Let’s see, weren’t most early funeral directors connected to a furniture operation?

Are you with me?

Many of the families we deal with are keeping the urn in the home…..I’m not advocating a shrine or telling funeral directors how to run their bidnez. Just throwing out cremation urn display ideas.

Did I hear someone say Pottery Barn?

Arizona Heartbreak

Our deepest sympathies to the families of Josh Clark, Keane Moss, James DeAnda, and Tiffany LeTexier in Sierra Vista, AZ.

A chance encounter last week, led us to the LaTexier family, and the story unfolded from there. How the parents cope with the pain of this terrible tragedy is a mystery. Please pray for them.

Tiffany’s mother used a teapot that Tiffany created as a gift to hold her daughter’s cremains.

Teapot urn

TSA Makes An Ash of Itself

Can’t be too careful I guess. Last week hundreds of travelers were evacuated from the Indianapolis International Airport and had to go through security a second time Friday after an urn with cremated remains was improperly screened, authorities said.

Transportation Security Administration said officials could not locate the passenger to rescreen the urn, so the concourses were evacuated around 6:20 a.m. as a precaution.

The evacuated passengers then went through security screening again and the concourses reopened around 7:35, airport spokeswoman Susan Sullivan said. The incident caused eight flights to be delayed, affecting nearly 700 passengers, but no flights were canceled, she said.

A TSA statement said that passengers may include a crematory container in their carry-on luggage, unless it generates an opaque image during the X-ray that prevents the screener from seeing what is inside. Those urns are not allowed through the checkpoint, the statement said.

Metal urns will generate an opaque image. Materials that can be successfully x-rayed: wood urns, plastic urns, or non-lead lined ceramic cremation urns.

TSA officials are restricted from opening an urn, even at the passenger’s request.