The 50+ Go Out With a 'Boom' (OT)

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Thought this was interesting. There are a number of

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at the end..................Lynn

The 50+ Go Out With a 'Boom'

 

Novel Send-Offs Help Take Sting Off

GriefBy: Laura Daily | Source: AARP.org

 

 

Not everyone can go gonzo like journalist Hunter S. Thompson and have

their remains shot out of a cannon to the tune of “Mr. Tambourine Man.”

But you can follow in Star Trek James “Scotty” Doohan’s contrail and

blast your ashes into space.

Cookie-cutter funerals are out. These days, a more personalized exit is

the likely scenario. “Boomers want to do things different. It’s all about

making funeral arrangements a part of our lives,” said Michelle Cromer,

author of Exit Strategy, which explores more than a dozen unique

farewells.

For instance, Eternal Reefs

mixes ashes into an environmentally-safe, ball-shaped concrete “memorial

reef” placed in the ocean to create a new marine habitat. Two years

before her death, Cécile Lane told her husband, Edgar, and their six

children that she wanted her ashes placed into one of the reef balls.

During the casting, daughter Vivian Sarna and her father decorated

Cécile’s memorial with shells and Lane inscribed his name.

“She loved the ocean and wanted to look at the fishes for eternity,”

Sarna recalled. “Of course, Mom also joked that when Dad died he could be

submerged nearby but not next to a cute blonde reef ball.”

Prefer stargazing to H2O? Space

Services Inc. can launch cremated remains into a suborbital flight,

an earth orbit, or, as in the case of astronomer Eugene Shoemaker,

arrange for a lunar burial. Angels

Flight Inc. packs ashes into fireworks for a bang-up service on land

or at sea.

No less colorful a send-off is possible through the

Eternal Ascent Society. Owner

Joanie West has an order from a 78-year-old who is passionate about skeet

shooting. His wish is to have Eternal Ascent release a five-foot,

biodegradable helium balloon containing his ashes on one of the hills

surrounding his ranch, then have all his buddies shoot at the balloon

until it bursts and scatters his ashes.

Offbeat requests are changing the basic nature of the funeral business.

Wade Funeral Home in St. Louis has a cookie-scented viewing room

affectionately known as “Big Mamma’s Kitchen,” with a stove,

refrigerator, dishes, a can of Crisco, and even faux food. Another space

resembles a den with a recliner, television, and remote control.

“Clients want more control. They want a service to reflect their lives,”

said Debora M. Kellom, a spokesperson for the

National Funeral Directors

Association. Kellom pointed to a particularly memorable 84-year-old,

no-pun-intended “die-hard” Rams fan who asked for a streamer-laden, Super

Bowl-style service. Artificial turf marked with yard lines was laid over

the carpet. Attendees entered on the 50-yard line with the casket set in

the end zone.

Another of Kellom’s clients wanted a barbecue theme complete with cooler,

picnic table, lawn chairs, and a grill rigged with dry ice so that

“smoke” would pour out. In East Pittsburgh, Penn., funeral director

Patrick Lanigan recalls a procession for a cancer-stricken volunteer

fireman. “His casket was placed on a fire truck, and with sirens blaring,

was driven to the crematory.”

A memorable good-bye can be as simple as using the U.S. Postal Service.

Over the recent Christmas holidays, media outlets reported the tale of

the deceased, 88-year-old prankster Chet Finch of Oregon, who (with a

little help from his barber) “mailed” 34 handwritten cards to friends two

months after his death with heaven as the return address.

End-of-life celebrations should reflect who you are, Lanigan said. “A

personal stamp creates a memory. And memories are what we have after

someone dies.” It’s actually comforting to the people left behind knowing

you had a say. “The important thing is, we’re doing what my wife wanted,”

said Lane, who in February, on what would have been Cécile’s 76th

birthday, watched as her memorial reef was submerged off Fort Lauderdale,

Fla.

With the help of Creative

Cremains, which packs remains into anything from musical instruments

to fishing rods, Cromer plans to play golf with her father long after

he’s gone. “As a kid, we shared Sunday-afternoon golf outings,” she said.

“When I told him I planned to have his ashes packed into the shaft of my

favorite club, he smiled and said, ‘Well Michelle, it’s obvious that you

have decided to put my ashes in your driver so you can blame me if you

slice your first shot.’”

No matter what your vision of an ideal farewell might be, don't be afraid

to ask. Who knows, someone else may have already done it. Want your

casket pulled to the cemetery by a Harley motorcycle hearse? Easy. Ditch

somber hymns for a so-hot-its-cool jazz band? Done. Think your loved ones

should keep you close at hand?

LifeGem compresses cremated remains,

converting the carbon into actual diamonds for setting into a ring,

necklace, or earrings. “As long as it’s legal, we'll try to do it,”

Lanigan said.

After all, it is your funeral.

 

Laura Daily is a freelance writer based in Denver. Contact her at

 

 

lfdaily.

copied from:

 

http://www.aarp.org/family/lifeafterloss/articles/odd_funeral_requests.html