Our beloved deceased as...bling!

Anonymous

Our beloved deceased as...bling!

Anonymous

I wasn't sure whether to put this here or under the Humor section, but then got so flustered that I erroneously posted it on "Circle...". Maybe I've led a sheltered life and y'all know that this is an available posthumous option, but I'm quite startled by it (clearly!). Don't know whether to laugh or say "eeeewwwww" or, perhaps I'm just not romantic enough and should just go "aawwwwww"?

http://www.lifegem.com/secondary/whatisLG2006.aspx

I, for one, don't want to be carted around on anyone's finger or chest for eternity. There's something to be said for R.I.P., ya know?   

~Marin

AlaskaDeb

I have a friend who got this done with her dog's ashes....it kind of creeps me out, but whatever floats her boat, I guess!

Deb C

Miss_Lolli

No offense to anyone, however anyone wants to handle their grief.

But for me, I'm going with ewwwww.

AnnNYC

Never heard of this before. 

Seems like a weird combination of Space Age and Stone Age (which is the same thing I said about my MRI-guided biopsy, BTW!) -- in a way it seems quite magical and mystical -- but maybe too much so, you know what I mean?  Thought I was a LAPSED Catholic, but I found myself thinking "this is against my religion" which surprises me a little,

but really shouldn't, I guess.  At moments of death (my father's) and birth (my son's) I found myself thinking very otherworldly thoughts, which kind of surprised me.  I think having my father made into a diamond would have sent me over the edge -- like not only would I have literally believed he was looking down on me from heaven, and gave me a special "in" there (which I did feel or "believe" -- which totally shocked me because I conduct my life as an agnostic, meaning to me that I will "wait and see" what if anything appears once I shuffle off this mortal coil)...

but anyway, if I'd had my father made into a diamond, I think I would have really gone off the deep end thinking it had magic powers...

not that I could have even if I'd wanted to, since my father had a widow, 8 kids and 5 grandchildren...  not enough diamonds to go around!  and he worked hard enough to provide for us! which had something to do with his too-early departure at the age of 60!

So I would have to go with -- rest in peace!

P.S. You can see my response is not entirely "ewww" -- it intrigues me to think of a person's remains being made into a gem -- but it really awakens me to my religious upbringing -- what's sacred, what's the right rite to employ!  The gem might be beautiful, but it's dailiness might diminish it, make it profane.  It's only a gem.  It won't have the power that the person did!  A headstone in a graveyard -- or even ashes sprinkled throughout the known world -- somehow ultimately inspire more thoughts of infinity, which is what we hope and pray for, isn't it?

Interesting how this touched off so many thoughts in me.

Again, no offense to others who choose this as a memorial.

Pharmmom

Nope.  I'd say EEWWW.  Sorry.  That just creeps me out!  Scatter or burying or placed in a niche is ok but not that.   LOL  Barb

swimangel72

Wow - this is so weird! I thought it strange when a teacher I know at work showed me her necklace which contains some of the ashes of her late brother.....I guess I'd rather wear a diamond than a locket holding ashes - and as my brother would say, "whatever floats your boat"!

AnnNYC - my dad also died at the age of 60 (of brain cancer - 5 months before my wedding) and left behind a widow, 8 children and about 6 granchildren. He was a very devout Catholic (which I wasn't at the time of his passing)......but I was blessed to have been present when he died, and it totally changed me spiritually - it renewed my faith - unbelievably, because somehow I thought his death would push me further away from my religion. My dad was buried in the traditional way - but my 84 year old mom wants to be cremated and have her ashes buried in his grave. Somehow the idea of the jewel is beautiful to me - but as you said - it IS only a gem - and our souls are so much more than the total sum of our bodily parts, even IF our bodies can be turned into a diamond tiara!

AnnNYC

OMG, Swimangel, we really have a lot of family "numbers" in common!  Interesting, too, that we have similar thoughts, having been raised Catholic!  I'm guessing First Holy Communion got us past the "ewwww" factor at about the age of 7 -- and transubstantiation into a diamond seems beautiful, but sacrilegious!

abbadoodles

Yeah, this has been being done for a few years now.  I haven't heard that any mainstream church/religion forbids it.  Even the RC Church allows cremation now.  Still, it's "different" and probably unappealing to most people.

Speaking of ashes, I have the remains of several dogs in cans on a shelf in my pantry.  They've been there for years.  I remember when I had the first dearly departed cremated and returned to me.  I didn't know what to do with the ashes so just put them on the shelf.  That night, I mentioned it to my husband.  He went rushing over to look, in total awe, I guess, as he had not known I was getting the ashes back.  When I told him I was planning on scattering the ashes in a trail where the dog loved to run, he said, Oh no you're not.  They are staying right here.  (He is very sentimental for a guy that likes to pretend he is tough as nails.)  So, that decided that.  Then the other cans started piling up.  Only his cat was buried whole.  He thought it would pi$$ her off if she knew she was spending eternity on a shelf with the annoying dogs.

Anonymous

I think this is just plain weird!  I do have my dog's ashes.  But not around my neck.

Shirley

Anonymous

Tina...that's hilarious about your husband burying the cat instead of annoying her by having her on the shelf with the dogs' ashes!

And, Ann and Swimangel, what interesting thoughts on the issue! I'm not a "lapsed" Catholic, but, rather, a "neo-Catholic" (my term) and, as such, don't feel compelled to buy into any Catholic legalese. I do, however, honor the distinction between the sacred and the profane and, so, have uneasiness about "desecrating" a human body by making it into a jewel to adorn another's body. On the other hand, I guess if it made me feel like the person was always with me.....? But Ann, I also like your turn-of-a-phrase...."once I shuffle off this mortal coil".....!

Last night, I watched PS I Love You, with Hillary Swank. She designed a pretty chest to carry her husband's ashes in and, boy, did she carry them....like everywhere! It was pretty funny, especially when she & her friends took "him" out partying with them!

~Marin

swimangel72

Abadoodles - your husband's decision to bury the cat rather than have it on the mantle next to the dogs' ashes really made me smile - and reminded me of an old poem I had to memorize in grammar school, about a cat & dog duel:

             "The Gingham Dog and the Calico cat,

              Side by side on the mantel sat

              T'was half past twelve and what to you think?

              Neither one nor the other had slept a wink"

You can read the entire silly funny poem here:  http://www.mtcc.com/~mom/calico.html

Anonymous

um - ew!!

Ka-Loni

Hi Marin, Just popping in to check on you sweetie. Did you getty a kitten yet? Sasha will love it! You know when I was living at home growing up, I had my cat "Holly Lynn", she was my girl, but she was very fiesty for sure. She lived a long life, and she started to go down hill. My mom put her too sleep. Well, I have her ashes in a beautiful urn, and she is in my curio cabinet. Ha. I am also a bird lover, and my lovebird "Inka Bell" I had for 11 beautiful years. He was very special to me. He was my everything. He would follow me everywhere. Well, he passed in 1999. And, I got him in a beautiful urn in he is in my curio cabinet. Ha. And, I had another lovebird for a very short time "Reno Lou", He had heat stroke and died. I have him in a beautiful urn too. There they all sit. In my Curio cabinet.Ha! This sounds silly, but, I want them buried with me. Now, I have "Mr.Tweet Franklin", he is a Cockatiel. And he is my main man here of 14 years, and he is fiesty as ever. He rules! Well,He thinks. Ha! And, there is my baby girl, "Lily Sue", she is a Gray Latino Cockatiel. She is 3 years old. She is definetly in her terrible three's. They are my children and spoiled rotten. And, did you notice? They all even have middle names. Ha! I figure this would make you laugh a little. Take Care Marin. Bye.

God Bless You,

Love,

Kaloni

Poppy

I've actually had Lifegem's site bookmarked for something like 10 years. I've told my hubby and mom that's what I want done to me... but now I've seen something else I think is really cool. There's a spot in the FL Keys (I think) where there's an underwater cemetery dive site. There are beautiful statues and other memorials down there. I might want my ashes mixed into the concrete and made into a statue to be put down there. I like the idea of being in clear caribbean water w/ the fish and being a part of something pretty and unusual.

Artificial reef near Miami is cemetery, diving attraction

Erica

Anonymous

Well, I guess these ideas are better than being buried "whole" and chewed away slowly by yucky creatures. For my part, I think that I don't care. I am rather concerned, though, about my hair/clothes/makeup if I'll be "viewed."  And my wrinkles...I wonder if a big ole shot of Restalyne would "take" in dead skin......hmmmmmmm ?

~Marin