Life in the Garden

Matters of Life and Death

cremation

Like the Son He Never Had

Florida passed a piece of legislation that allows humans to be buried with their pets. Previously, funeral homes were prohibited from handling animal remains and ashes of humans and animals could not be co-mingled.

At the Best Friends Animal Hospital at Gateway, office manager, Rainy Hoy, said about half of their clients take home their pet’s ashes. “They just want to keep them. They’re like family to them,” Hoy said.

Fort Myers resident Joe Castrogiovanni wouldn’t consider euthanizing his 2-year-old dog Barkley to put him in the casket, but he would consider saving Barkley’s ashes.

“It may be a little weird, but he’s like the son I never had,” Castrogiovanni said.

Jay O’Shaughnessy, funeral director for Anderson Funeral Home of Fort Myers with more than 30 years’ experience, said he has received requests from clients wanting their loved ones to be buried with remains of their pet.

“It’s not a real new deal. We’ve done stranger things than that,” he said. “It’s always the family’s idea.” Complete article here.

He’s right, it’s not unusual. Urngarden has received several requests for urns large enough to contain the pet owner and the ashes of their cats or dogs. Or couples that have left instructions for their children to bury their ashes in the back yard with the family pets.

We had a dog, dear Bonnie, that I always thought I’d have taxidermied so we could enjoy her to the end. She died on a camping trip and had to be buried on the spot. Looking back, I’m glad we didn’t have the opportunity to get her stuffed!

Now, my two precious pups I’ll probably sprinkle somewhere, or maybe I’ll save their ashes to be packed into a mortar shell with me!

Shake it Off, Strolling in the Garden


Hello everyone, wasn’t going to post until I had something to say. Well, here we are. Still consternated. Decided to take a walk.

A peaceful place that always lifts my spirits.

Beautiful landscaping.

Interesting statuary.

Met this guy along the trail, reminded me of my late grandfather who ran a “turtle rescue” on his farm. Funny story, some other time.

Felt a little better upon arrival at headquarters. Here’s the latest addition to our keepsake collection.

Urngarden Keepsake Urn

Today’s Tip for better living: Take a walk down Mulberry Street.

For Those About To Rock

Three Beautiful Things:

Lighting Bugs
No Car Payments
Pulling out of a funk

Things are a little brighter in the garden. We’ve been flat, fat and unmotivated.

Apologies to the blogs I hit with regularity. Someday I’ll get the feed, so I don’t corrupt your stats with my obsessive search for updates. Please excuse, just means I love ya.

Have a glorious weekend!

Cast Away

As cremation has overtaken burial in California — about 52 percent of the dead are cremated, according to the National Funeral Directors Association — scatterings of remains have become a daily occurrence. Without anybody really noticing, San Francisco Bay has become an enormous burial ground.

Scatterings are done from boats, cliffs and the Golden Gate Bridge. Cemetery owner Buck Kamphausen said it is not unusual to see remains scattered off the back of ferries. He has found urns bobbing in the water. “We’ve done it at night, in the fog, in the rain. You have to say that if there is something spiritual about it, this is one of the most beautiful places in the world to have it done.”

Cremation does not appeal to everybody.

Mark Matthews, vice president of the Association of California Cremationists, said that for a variety of cultural reasons, Latinos and African Americans are less likely to cremate than other Californians. And he said higher-income people are more likely to cremate than people with less money. Several religions, including Judaism and Mormonism, frown on cremation. Islam forbids it.

“There are a lot of people that have died and are in the Bay,” said Curtis Brown, captain and operator of the Orca III, “Over the recent years, I’m sure there have been more people scattered in the water than buried in the Bay Area. I go out near the ocean, so ultimately the ashes can be scattered on the tides throughout the world. It’s kind of a liberating, freeing thing.”

Ashes dispersed off the Orca III in San Fransisco Bay, Angel Island in the background.

Today’s tip for better living: Perfect your swimming stroke.

Put Some Clothes On!

Starmark Funeral Products recently conducted a nationwide survey of 400 people who planned to be cremated. The goal of the survey was to discover consumer preferences with regard to cremation services, caskets and urns.

Whether it’s vanity or modesty, more than 75% want to be clothed when cremated and most want to be dressed in meaningful attire.

Eighty percent would like to avoid a public viewing.

79% would like to have a religious leader, friend or family member preside over their service, whether it’s a full blown funeral or simple memorial service.

73% were not aware that “rental caskets” are available at most funeral homes for open or closed-casket services followed by cremation.

When asked if they would like to use a funeral home chapel for their family gathering, nearly half said no.

The tough decision was what to do with the ashes. In various questions regarding the final resting place:

77% preferred scattering in a special place.

35% would leave it up to the family.

58% would like to avoid being left with the family.

Only 4% would like to be placed in an urn in a loved one’s home.

Full survey results here.

Many of our families are not sure what they are going to do with the ashes. Some plan to spread or scatter at a later date. It’s not uncommon for families that have been holding the ashes for a couple of years to finally make a decision and purchase an urn.

Make your wishes known.

Today’s tip for better living: Get your clothes laid out for tomorrow.