Peaches Geldof dies aged 25

[A*O]

My fathers ashes were scattered in various places around the world that meant a lot to him and there's some left in a sealed Tupperware beaker (klassy) which my mother wants mingled with her ashes when the time comes and then scattered in a significant place. Unfortunately she hasn't told me/sister where that place is so we will probably have to guess. Its not like either of my parents will care by then.

[Flygirl]

I think its hilarious that you have him on the washer Flygirl. It's kind of sweet. He's not in some dark box in a closet.

Did he have some favorite spot? Maybe you could ask his mom if she'd mind if you scattered them there?

As odd as it is, I've kind of started to like them on my washer. No one in my family (or his, including his mom) minds that they are there, believe it or not. They know I mourn/cope in my own truly weird, emotionally stunted way, and they respect that. My brother and I were more alike than my "full" siblings, so everyone gets it. I know a psychologist would have a field day with it, but there are honestly no underlying issues or anything (that I know of)

[manningmsj]

^^^ I can think of a lot of less respectable places to store all of my siblings. Alive.

This is less serious, but I keep two of my dogs ashes together in a box on my mantle. The vet sent them in their own little hand carved boxes, but I took the bag of ashes out of the older dog's box after she died and put it in the box on top of the younger dog who died first. She had a tendency to sleep on top of her, and the young one adored her so much she would just lie there and let her, so it seemed fitting. To anyone else, it's two bags of dust crammed on top of each other. To me, it's comforting.

When my best friend died, I stole stacks of the prayer card from her wake and hid them in random spots around my house. That way I always had them with me and whenever I lost one, I knew I could still find another. People mourn in weird ways. It's different for everyone because we're all grieving someone different. What fits for you with your brother is not for others to judge. I also happen to think the washer is a classy place. Everything comes out clean and there's just enough motion to make it exciting. ;-)

[sparkles]

You know we Greeks dont have the cremating option?Bury you they do...take you out 3 years later,keep your leftovers in a metal box for some more years then they destroy said leftovers and you re truly gone!

Up until you mentioned that the remains are eventually destroyed, it sounded like a very similar ritual to that of the ancient Jewish tradition.

[A*O]

If your religion, culture, preference requires burial rather than cremation then re-cycling graves/tombs once the "process" is more or less finished makes perfect sense. I'm sure the graves on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem where many Jews ideally wish to be buried have been re-used dozens of times given the relatively small area and the number of potential guests.

[Kittylady]

I think these are different because they're drawn/ written with real feelings as opposed to an amateur looking painting.

Do we know who did the painting though? If it was a member of her family or someone especially close then it's still a very personal, special gesture.

I can't decide if I want burying or cremating. Being stuck in the cold ground doesn't appeal to me but then again I want somewhere for people to be able to come visit me/lay flowers. My MIL has left specific instructions that we are to cremate her, then mix her ashes with those of her late husband and the various family dogs and scatter them all together at a specific place. My unofficially adopted Dad wants cremating too and I have instructions that I'm to take him on the ferry to the Isle of Man (where he's from) and tip him over the side as the water starts to turn from our sludgy brown to their murky blue, along with a slug of gin. My only concern with that is getting the direction of the wind right - I don't want sandblasting with crematory remains!

[faithanne]

Do we know who did the painting though? If it was a member of her family or someone especially close then it's still a very personal, special gesture.

Her oldest son is about 2 so judging by the quality of the painting I'd say it was the younger son.

[yanna]

Don't the male relatives have to clean the bones of the deceased after they exhume the body? That's what I was told when I attended the funeral of a Greek friend of my ex husband.

Completely curious... why is there a three year waiting period, and how do they destroy the final remains?

The waiting period is so that the bones will actually be clean. And it is sometimes not enough, I know cases where they had to dig them up and they weren't completely decomposed, not even after 3 years so they had to rent the place for another 3. In my family we own our grave so there is none of that stuff now. It did happen with my grandfather who died in 1977. He was put in a grave then taken out and put in a drawer:

something like this:



although in our case it wasn't just the boxes stacked like that, it was an actual drawer that we were renting, containing his box of bones. Then in 2000 my grandmother purchased a grave so she took the box home. It was in our basement for a while which I found kinda creepy to be honest and I am pretty sure it's illegal and then we buried him in the family plot. Now with my grandmother who died in 2002 and my mother in 2004 we don't have to do that thing where you dig them up again. We won't do it until perhaps there is not much space to put all of us in there and you can definitely fit more boxes than coffins.

I have no idea how exactly people go about destroying the bones. In all cases I know they simply moved to less busy cemeteries. I wish cremation were legal here, I'd prefer it. Though I have also thought about perhaps donating my body to science provided they do give it back to my family to bury after they are done. Dunno if that's possible.

[A*O]

Cremation is ILLEGAL in Greece?!?!?? Bloody hell, I had no idea.

[yanna]

I am not 100% sure A*O, it might just be that it is impossible since there isn't a single crematorium in Greece.

[effie2]

Well,what did i say?Illegal,no option ,no cremation.I had a music composer friend ,he died youngish and his family cremated him in Bulgaria at a huge cost.Yanna,i hate you with that picture,i hate those places ,worse than graveyards and i HATE for my kids to have to do all that shit after i die.

[Annika]

that bone warehouse is one of the creepiest things i've ever seen. very sad.

[sluce]

So can I open a crematory in Greece and get rich?

[KrisNine]

I want to be dumped in the ground in a shroud in a nice, natural area. There are a few around the US. Green burials. Buried in a nature preserve with trees and greenery all around you. Stone markers sometimes are used with stone naturally occurring in the area.

[effie2]

No,you cannot open a business to cremate here,Sluce.It is ILLEGAL,period.Our religion says *you were earth and to earth you shall return*Real reason ?Lots of money in burying..
I ve spent enough time in those HORRIBLE halls to hate them with a passion..