Life in the Garden

Matters of Life and Death

Memorial Service Ideas

I Slept With Elvis

What I learned today: For 10 years one of my clients showered and shared her bed with a cockatoo named Elvis. Elvis liked to ride in the car and eat cheeseburgers and ice cream at the DQ. He would hold up a foot and scream "Raspberry!" and want you to blow on his toes. Client has nine other birds in the parrot family, and Elvis was never really part of the bird population. He preferred to perch on the shoulder of his master. He was kind of an attention whore, and had to be near … [Read more...] about I Slept With Elvis

Butterfly Urns

Our neighbor pointed out all the butterflies in the neighborhood, and I started counting how many I would see fluttering about. Too many, I lost count. A symbol of earth and air, butterflies often remind us of a sense of freedom and oneness with nature that many of us yearn for. We've got styles of butterfly urns in the Urn Garden that captures the spirit of the butterfly lover. My favorite butterfly urn is a metal urn with deep blue and shades of purple butterfly wings. Matching heart … [Read more...] about Butterfly Urns

Do Not Disturb

In our culture we honor the dead by carving their names in stone, staging celebrations of life, and personalizing any and all funeral accessories from the casket to the urn. In contrast, here in the Bible Belt, I've attended a few services that where the body is on display (usually in a church) but the ceremony itself is actually an altar call for the "lost". In talking with Native Americans I've learned that in their culture, it is forbidden to mention the name of the deceased for fear of … [Read more...] about Do Not Disturb

On Golden Nest

How do you spell "griffin"? As always, when we spot this ancient image, we try to capture it. This was on a pillar at a local theater downtown. The griffin has a narrow appeal. People with that last name, perhaps. Or, medieval architecture enthusiasts. Which rules out Billy Bob Thornton. This urn style has been around for awhile, but for the family that does want the ancient symbol of protection we've added this bronze urn. Some call it the Sarcophagus. We call it stunning. This … [Read more...] about On Golden Nest