What would you take with you to the grave?

[Scheherazade]

After reading a news article on BBC (http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showpost.php?p=179552&postcount=528), I wondered what I would take with me and I couldn't think of anything because I don't see the point really.

(OK, have to admit that the idea of taking one or two people with whom I have had disagreements is rather tempting... Just to prove that I don't bear any grudge against them! :p).

What would you take with you to the grave? Has anyone given this any thought?

[papayahed]

We put a bingo card in my grandma's casket before they closed it. As for myself I can't think of anything really.

[rachel]

oh a story I have been given by a precious someone and I would like to make sure I have er plenty of nice clothes on ..Oh yes and my faerie book-the Unfinished tales.

[Xamonas Chegwe]

Proust's "A la recherche du temps perdu", a French dictionary, and a light to read them by - Should keep me busy for any forseeable eternity - second thoughts, throw in War & Peace and a Russian dictionary for good measure.

[jackyyyy]

An ejector seat.

[simon]

It would hardly make any difference to me, I'd be dead.

[emily655321]

Oh, what a bizarre thing. I can understand being buried with useful things, if you believe you'll be resurrected and need them. I can understand being buried with sentimental things, like the man with the teddy bear in the article...

"Another was buried with his favourite teddy bear, given to him by his girlfriend." ...That's the sweetest, most heartbreaking thing I've ever heard. :bawling: I can especially imagine being buried with a phone in case you are buried alive (I wonder what kind of reception you could get underground?).

But being buried with your wealth?? With jewels and electronics—things that, were you less greedy and spiteful, you might traditionally leave in your will, so that others could actually use them? I'm speechless. I don't know why that gets to me as much as it does. It just seems... to exemplify what a greedy and consumerist society we live in. I hate it, truly.

Anyway, rant over. I honestly had never thought about it. I would like it to be something sentimental, like the man with the teddy bear. It might also be fun to be buried, the way one man was in a movie (was it the movie Toys?), with a whole bunch of novelty toys crowding around me in the casket. Something to make my friends and family smile when they saw me, rather than just a shell of a corpse in a box. That's it. I'd like to surround myself with visual jokes of some kind; toys, stuffed animals, anything that would perhaps bring enjoyment to people who came to mourn me. :nod: That seems to at least have a point.

[Xamonas Chegwe]

Nice Emily - beautiful sentiment and well presented. :)

[emily655321]

Thanks. :)

[beer good]

A power drill, a saw and a shovel.

You know, just in case they forgot to check my pulse or something.

Plus, in case I come back as a zombie, sharp tools could come in handy.

[Virgil]

How about my laptop, with its wireless remote card so I can still log into lit net! :D [Oh, I think that's a little too schmalzy, but what the heck.]

[Scheherazade]

I would like it to be something sentimental, like the man with the teddy bear. You would like to be burried with the man with the teddy bear?? Why on earth? Why does he have a sentimental value for you? :p

Joking aside, I really don't see why people should come and see me in the casket. No offence to anyone but I find the idea a little morbid. I would like people to remember me the way I am when I am alive - usually smiling, grinning or laughing and chattering and... lively; not the way I would look when my lifeless carcass lies in a box. I also hope that I will be bury in a way that my body decomposes in the quickest way, mix with the earth (so maybe being in a casket is not a good idea. It might slow the process).

I also find the whole idea of spending thousands of pounds on caskets and funerals a little over the top. Why not spend that money on some worthy cause which might benefit the living? Why not provide a family in need from a developing country with live stock or something like that? Why not offer that money to some children to help them study? It says here (http://www.fool.com/foolu/askfoolu/2002/askfoolu020305.htm) that a funeral costs almost £ 6,000. How many books/computers could be bought for schools in poor countries with that much money?

Are the caskets environmentally friendly anyway? :p
How about my laptop, with its wireless remote card so I can still log into lit net! [Oh, I think that's a little too schmalzy, but what the heck.]Hey, you think it is not done??? Why do you think some members are invisible??? They are the ghosts of the Literature Network! http://www.pinoyexchange.com/forums/images/smilies/ghostsmiley.gif

[Logos]

Caskets are not environmentally friendly, but Scher how about a "green burial" (http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/thisweek/story/0,12977,1255829,00.html) :)

http://www.jewish-funerals.org/greeningfinal.htm

[AimusSage]

I just hope the mobsters who buried me alive don't take my cellphone. :)

[Scheherazade]

Caskets are not environmentally friendly, but Scher how about a "green burial" (http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/thisweek/story/0,12977,1255829,00.html) :)

http://www.jewish-funerals.org/greeningfinal.htmThanks for the link, Logos! What a marvelous idea! I have already arranged that I should have a willow tree instead of tombstone but this whole idea is great.
I just hope the mobsters who buried me alive don't take my cellphone.And pray that they won't have broken any bones in your hands! :D

[Virgil]

Caskets are not environmentally friendly
Really? Why? Aren't they out of wood and cloth, and I guess brass? What's envirnomentally unfriendly?

[Logos]

Lead-lined, chemically treated wood caskets, often braced/reinforced with other strong metals either take years and years and years to, or don't decompose entirely.

Cities/urban/public areas are running out of space for "full" burial grounds. People have got to start thinking about it differently. Headstones/gravemarkers often don't get tended to after a handful of generations. The traditional (to some) idea of being buried like a saint in perpetuity is ridiculous.

Burial grounds can/should be used for multiple people, they did it hundreds of years ago, they would open a grave and "pound" down the remains and bury someone on top, and someone on top of them, and so on. An economic use of space, and easy on public funds that maintain such burial sites.

[Virgil]

Lead-lined, chemically treated wood caskets, often braced/reinforced with other strong metals either take years and years and years to, or don't decompose entirely.

I wonder why they line them with lead? They could do away with it and be ok.

[emily655321]

Not only are caskets not environmentally sound (I saw a show about green burials on TV once—I love that idea!), but even more harmful to the environment are the bodies themselves. Until the advent of embalming, bodies would just rot away in a few years. Now we pump bodies full of chemicals so they won't look so "dead" during the open casket portion of a funeral, but once in the ground, the chemicals preserve the body for years and years, and finally, instead of rotting gracefully away into the earth, it turns to a kind of pulpy mush of toxic waste, and the embalming fluids leach out into the ground. In some cities, the proximity to modern cemeteries has damaged the drinking water, and the cemetery and/or the citizens had to be relocated. Planting a tree above your body probably wouldn't be too successful in such an instance, because the soil in cemeteries is highly toxic. Now, I can just imagine what must happen to bodies of plastic surgery addicts!

I like morbid threads. :D

[Scheherazade]

Where I come from, embalming etc are not very commonly done and I don't think I would go ahead with it anyway even if it were.

*is not giving up on her tree for a tombstone idea that easily!

:D

[Logos]

Well.. traditionally (Middle Ages and onward) lead lined was a sign of wealth/status. Some religious beliefs/superstitions are/were that the lead contains the "spirit" of the deceased inside the casket. The seams were soldered for detection of graverobbers. It also helps keep the "elements" out to preserve the body as long as possible, though if exhumed the oxidised lead is highly toxic.

[kilted exile]

I intend on getting cremated anyway, so sticking possessions into the furnace with doesnt seem worthwhile - would just lead to an increased gas bill.

[Logos]

Cremation rates are almost 50% for North America and are rising due to lower cost and environmental factors. The important thing about dying is that there is some memorialisation of your life lived, a record created with your full name, birth and death dates at least. Get cremated and have your golden urned remains placed in a niche :lol: or scattered in a meaningful place. (though I know that's illegal in some places)

My ashes will be scattered in a place hopefully not developed into a suburban nightmare neighborhood :D

[kilted exile]

I know already where my ashes are to be scattered, into Crail harbour (http://www.eastneukescapes.com/Images/Crail1.jpg)

In fact I have my entire funeral planned, one must be prepared for these things.

[Scheherazade]

In fact I have my entire funeral planned, one must be prepared for these things.Ah, and I thought I was the morbid one! :D

[kilted exile]

Ah, and I thought I was the morbid one! :D

I think you still count as the morbid one, after all this is the second thread (http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15007&highlight=funeral) you've started in reference to dying and being buried, my funeral arrangements are the 2nd post I think....

[Scheherazade]

I think you still count as the morbid one, after all this is the second thread (http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15007&highlight=funeral) you've started in reference to dying and being buried, my funeral arrangements are the 2nd post I think....Phew! Such a relief! Thought I had lost my morbid touch!

*grins morbidly*

:D

[jackyyyy]

Cremation rates are almost 50% for North America and are rising due to lower cost and environmental factors. The important thing about dying is that there is some memorialisation of your life lived, a record created with your full name, birth and death dates at least. Get cremated and have your golden urned remains placed in a niche :lol: or scattered in a meaningful place. (though I know that's illegal in some places)

My ashes will be scattered in a place hopefully not developed into a suburban nightmare neighborhood :D

I have never understood cremation and how people consider it. There is so much land on the planet, and the Moon, Mars, and even the Ocean. One place I saw, they built graves up into the air to conserve space. So, you see, lots of room for everyone, though you could end up in a highrise,,, and we are all forever, one way or another.

And after hours, where are no hours, there be no closing time. Until the next dance, of rance and pance, and we'll wait the bouncer's wink!

[emily655321]

There is so much land on the planet, and the Moon, Mars, and even the Ocean.Yes, but only one of those four options is available to us for burying purposes. Unless you want to start a petition to bury people in the Sahara desert, or Antarctica, there is actually a very real problem of overcrowded cemeteries these days. There is also a problem of decreasing real estate available to the living, so much so that some communities—most notably in Cairo, Egypt—have been known to live in cemeteries, because there is nowhere else for them. As the population grows, it's becoming increasingly difficult to find places for both the living and the dead. And, as I've already stated, living in close proximity to cemeteries is dangerous, because the corpses (embalmed or not) contaminate the groundwater.

Cremation was once very common, and is only now making a resurgence in popularity. The Romans traditionally cremated their dead. Jewish and Christian communities buried them because resurrection upon Judgment Day is a part of the religion, and when Constantine converted to Christianity, the Roman world adopted the custom.

[Basil]

My funeral is going to be open casket. But I won't be in the casket--it'll be some guy made up to look like my dead corpse. Halfway through the service, he'll sit up, lurch to his feet, and go stumbling into the crowd*, making the appropriate zombie-like sounds. What a laugh those folks will have!


* Although I use the word crowd, it will most likely be a sparsely attended affair.

[Virgil]

Now, I can just imagine what must happen to bodies of plastic surgery addicts!

I like morbid threads. :D
Now Emily you've got my imagination going. What about breast implants? I would imagine they don't decompose. If that's true, will they just lay there on top of the rib cage? :lol:

[rachel]

A power drill, a saw and a shovel.

You know, just in case they forgot to check my pulse or something.

Plus, in case I come back as a zombie, sharp tools could come in handy.

hahahahaha. well in some countries that has happened, they didn't embalm them nor check their pulse after the initial shock. life can be funny. :lol:

[RobinHood3000]

One of those Bateson's Belfries (I can't remember if that's how his name is spelled) caskets, made of English Oak and biodegradable hinges. The bell will be rigged to go off every fifteen minutes throughout the funeral--just to see what happens.

[woeful painter]

I'd take with me.......some stuffed toy penguins....it reminds me of someone :D

And some flashlight...and the books I haven't finished yet...

[tn2743]

Who ?

[woeful painter]

err, was that a real inquiry nguyenngoctue? Or are you making me admit something? ;) :D

Uh, I really should keep my mouth shut now...:redface: Okay let me rephrase, sorry, I don't think I can answer that here in public. :D

[beer good]

hahahahaha. well in some countries that has happened, they didn't embalm them nor check their pulse after the initial shock. life can be funny. :lol:
Oh yeah. Seriously, being buried alive is probably the creepiest thing I can think of. Suppose I'd rather be cremated just to be on the safe side.

Again, unless I get to do the zombie thing. Which would be cool.

[ElizabethSewall]

The only things I'd like to take with me would be letters from people I loved. No objects, I'd rather give everything I care about to those people.
But I must confess I'd like to wear a beautiful dress, even if it's useless.

[Nightshade]

Ive never really thought about t really but I suppose funerals are really for the living rather than the dead andI guess I would want anything that makes the time a little easier on my family. No I dont want to be buried with anyuthging but I would like everyone to go to my funeral in party dresses and great big flowery monstrosities of hats and serve cheese cake and shurbat ( sickly sweet red celbration drink).
I think thats what I want.
:)

[Pensive]

I will take "good deeds" with me to the grave.

[woeful painter]

aww, now that's very thoughtful of you pen. such a kind lady! :nod:

[Grumbleguts]

I suppose I will just (reluctantly) place the other foot beside the one that is already in it.

[Riesa]

I'd like to be either cremated and jettisoned into space to keep Rodenberry company, cryogenically frozen (http://www.insaneabode.com/Articles/fifties.html) or just buried out in the backyard with a snorkel mask, a lock of hair from each of my family, and one of the donkeys. I really hate the idea of an open casket, but a Piñata shaped like me (for the kids) around would be a nice thing, let everyone get together and celebrate...I plan on living a long time and becoming a grouchy ol' lady that everyone can't wait to see go. (with a cane for poking people with or tapping the floor as I wait impatiently for my tea.)

[jackyyyy]

I'd like to be either cremated and jettisoned into space to keep Rodenberry company, cryogenically frozen (http://www.insaneabode.com/Articles/fifties.html) or just buried out in the backyard with a snorkel mask, a lock of hair from each of my family, and one of the donkeys. I really hate the idea of an open casket, but a Piñata shaped like me (for the kids) around would be a nice thing, let everyone get together and celebrate...I plan on living a long time and becoming a grouchy ol' lady that everyone can't wait to see go. (with a cane for poking people with or tapping the floor as I wait impatiently for my tea.)

Geepers, Riesa.. you reminded me, its the perfect idea. I forget which movie, some wandering ticked off aliens picked up the body and reincarnated it.... could happen, ya know. Interestingly, it does raise a magical word called 'hope' to those of us that do not want to go underground, be incinerated or whatever. Thats for me, now where do I book the one way ticket? I think I will call that 'Death by Raincheck'.

[Themis]

What would you take with you to the grave? Has anyone given this any thought?

A shovel. In case I'm not dead after all.

[Isagel]

My engagement ring. I know I will be dead, and not knowing, but still I do not like to think about my body without it. I had to take it off during surgery, and I did not like it. I have already arranged so I will donate any parts they have use for. I can be buried without a heart, but not without the ring. What a silly thing I am.

[Stanislaw]

you, and you and you and er...you! (you know who I mean :mad: ) :D

Jokes aside:

Nothing...I could not really care less...I mean the body is like an empty shell so, I don't care if they chop me up and sell me on ebay. :cool:


Stanislaws toe: current bid, 500$ own a piece of greatness ladies and germs...

__________
| Place Bid |

[Scheherazade]

My funeral is going to be open casket. But I won't be in the casket-- it'll be some guy made up to look like my dead corpse. Halfway through the service, he'll sit up, lurch to his feet, and go stumbling into the crowd*, making the appropriate zombie-like sounds. What a laugh those folks will have!But, Basil, no amount of make-up or good acting can manage to recreate or imitate your charismatic personality and magnanimous nature! No, no... I don't think this plan will work!

[Virgil]

I'd like to be either cremated and jettisoned into space to keep Rodenberry company, cryogenically frozen (http://www.insaneabode.com/Articles/fifties.html) or just buried out in the backyard with a snorkel mask, a lock of hair from each of my family, and one of the donkeys. I really hate the idea of an open casket, but a Piñata shaped like me (for the kids) around would be a nice thing, let everyone get together and celebrate...I plan on living a long time and becoming a grouchy ol' lady that everyone can't wait to see go. (with a cane for poking people with or tapping the floor as I wait impatiently for my tea.)
Old lady, yes, but grouchy? I can't picture you that way.

[Taliesin]

Well, Estonian cemeteries are set in forests and we don't think that the bodies and caskets were loaded up with various interesting chemical substances since the trees seem healthy and it would have been strange to make such fuss about a body in older times. An old Estonian belief is that the souls will go into trees after death - although they won't be probably the cemetery-trees but one of those that grow near our house in countryside.
But that is about the soul.

About the body:
Actually we would like our body to be useful after our death - so all organs that people would need we would give away and rest of it could be burnt in a boilerhouse to produce energy, as far as we care. Or boil it to jellied meat for the funeral feast table with broccoli and carrots.


and if you bury me, dig
three feet, add
five litres of water
and so many seeds
that it is enough
create a new world
and kill me again

[Petrarch's Love]

Well I couldn't very well tell you the marvelous secrets I take with me to my grave now could I? It would pretty much defeat the point. ;)

Seriously though, I think I'd want my ashes scattered either over the Pacific or off the hanging rock at glacier point into the Yosemite Valley (then the scatterer could have such fun trying to outrun the park rangers in hot pursuit for "littering" in a national park :lol: ). I figure there's enough in either of those graves already without me taking anything in there with me. ;)

[emily655321]

Well, Estonian cemeteries are set in forests and we don't think that the bodies and caskets were loaded up with various interesting chemical substances since the trees seem healthy and it would have been strange to make such fuss about a body in older times. An old Estonian belief is that the souls will go into trees after death - although they won't be probably the cemetery-trees but one of those that grow near our house in countryside.Taliesin, that sounds like such a beautiful tradition. I like that much better than cutting down the trees to make fields and fields of dull granite rocks.

[kilted exile]

I have never understood cremation and how people consider it.

This will probably explain a few more things about me than just my wish to be cremated, however.

I grew up a 1/2hr walk from a crematorium, It was surrounded by a wood and old paper mill. We used to go for a walk there every Xmas morning.

[Virgil]

This will probably explain a few more things about me than just my wish to be cremated, however.

I grew up a 1/2hr walk from a crematorium, It was surrounded by a wood and old paper mill. We used to go for a walk there every Xmas morning.
Lived near a crematorium and a paper mill? The smell of the air was probably interesting.

[kilted exile]

Lived near a crematorium and a paper mill? The smell of the air was probably interesting.

The paper mill was old and closed down years ago, but the buiding still stood there at the opposite end of the wood.

[Riesa]

Old lady, yes, but grouchy? I can't picture you that way. ha ha. the joys of litnet distance, eh? ;)

[jackyyyy]

This will probably explain a few more things about me than just my wish to be cremated, however.

I grew up a 1/2hr walk from a crematorium, It was surrounded by a wood and old paper mill. We used to go for a walk there every Xmas morning.

Ah, I see, and you see.. I went to a school everyday that was right next to a cemetary, and that was where we ate our butties (sandwiches for you sassenachettes). And, I still think some begrudging alien, possibly eating butties, is going to revive me in about 2 million years, so I want to go that way.

[woeful painter]

I changed my mind and would rather want to be cremated instead...
But on the other hand, having my totally annoying rival thrown in the hole with me...ALIVE! isn't such a bad idea too! :brow: :mad:

[Scheherazade]

The OP:
After reading a news article on BBC (http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showpost.php?p=179552&postcount=528), I wondered what I would take with me and I couldn't think of anything because I don't see the point really.

(OK, have to admit that the idea of taking one or two people with whom I have had disagreements is rather tempting... Just to prove that I don't bear any grudge against them! :p).

What would you take with you to the grave? Has anyone given this any thought?

[iamnobody]

Hate, I would like take Hate with me to grave ( yes, I know, childish)

[SilentMute]

I was planning on trying to make myself useful in death. Donate organs and my body to science. Even after the doctors were done with me, there are body farms where they study how bodies decay. It is useful for forensic science. I would break down naturally. Birds would use my hair for nesting. I would be food for insects and animals. True recycling--even if it is ghastly.

If there was noone who wanted my earthly belongings, and I didn't have to worry about the environment or how much room I was taking up....Just for the fun of the discussion....I would like to be buried with my video game consoles, a TV, my video games, and my DVD collection. I would also have a stipulation in my will that my relatives had to bring offerings to me--the latest of my video games and any console upgrades to play them...plus accessories. Of all my possessions, they give me the most pleasure.

[JuniperWoolf]

I have this ratty little pink stuffed toy. It's just a ball with a face, stripey legs and red ovenmit hands. It's my baby toy, it's been my favorite forever. I'll take that.

[Basil]

oh a story I have been given by a precious someone and I would like to make sure I have er plenty of nice clothes on ..Oh yes and my faerie book-the Unfinished tales.
I'll probably take my faerie book, too.

[Propter W.]

I was planning on trying to make myself useful in death. Donate organs and my body to science. Even after the doctors were done with me, there are body farms where they study how bodies decay. It is useful for forensic science. I would break down naturally. Birds would use my hair for nesting. I would be food for insects and animals. True recycling--even if it is ghastly.

I'm also a registrated donor and have signed a form that my body should be donated to science.

[Maximilianus]

I would take nothing but myself. Whatever I may have could be of use for those remaining in the surface. For example, why would I take a book? I have never ever seen a corpse with an ability to read. Not even if I were a zombie, because if I were a zombie I'd be so hungry for human brains that I wouldn't have the time required to read :p

I kinda like these morbid threads :hurray: :cheers2: