Morbid question, yeah. But when you shuffle off this old world, what do you want to have happen to your body?
Me, I don’t really care, seeing as I’ll be dead. However I do sometimes think I might like to be creamated and either have my ashes sprinkled around in a cool and calm setting, or upon the mantle of a loved one.
Cremation. In general, I don’t see a need for me to take up any space once I’m gone. The only thing that might be of interest is to have some of the remains to be stored in a memorial place (maybe a mausoleum of sorts) as my father has lamented that since his Mother and Father were both cremated, it made it hard to have a “focal point” for them anymore. There was no place to go to to feel like you are with them.
Take whatever organs are useful, let a medical school have at me if that’s useful, then cremate whatever’s left and dump me in the mountains somewhere.
Creamation. I get really spooked out thinking about my body locked in a small, damp, underground box bloating and then putrifying and seeping all over my clothes.
I’m an organ donor, then the leftovers will be cremated. I still have my mother’s ashes, and my husband can do whatever he wishes with both of us - I think his plan is to have us buried with him.
I want whatever is useful to be used, right down to being a med school project. Anything left over can be burned and sprinkled in the Bay. I don’t want my survivors to spend huge amounts of money disposing of my remains - I’d rather they use their money to enjoy life.
‘After I go’? Death seems counterproductive to me, so I’m not going.
I’ve recently read Stiff: the Curious Lives Of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach. There’s a woman in Norway, Susanne Wiigh-Masak, who is developing (or has developed) a plan to dip bodies in liquid nitrogen, shatter them with ultrasonic waves, and use them for mulch (perhaps for a memorial tree). Apparently there was a guy in Oregon, Pillip Backman, who had the idea several years ago, but his plan was to use a hammer mill to reduce the body.
Apparently just tossing a loved one onto the compost heap might be considered disconcerting. (‘Did you remember to turn daddy today?’)
Johnny L.A.: Just read Stiff too and wanted to post about the composting funeral. That sounds like the way to go.
However, if I had my druthers, I’d want to go up in a pillar of fire, leaving behind nothing but a scorch mark. Maybe I should become the drummer for Spinal Tap?