American Indians have the highest per-capita participation in the armed services of any ethnic group. Cpt. Brett Lundstrom was killed in Fallujah on January 7, 2006 and was buried in Fort Logan National Cemetery. As a Lakota, the Marine was honored during a three day wake service at the Little Wound School in Kyle, SD. Lundstrom was Oglala Sioux and was given the name Wanbli Isnala, which translates to Lone Eagle.

The body of Marine Cpl. Brett Lundstrom, lies in state in a flag-draped casket inside a 30-foot tepee set up in the gymnasium of Little Wound High School on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. U.S. Marines took shifts standing guard at the entrance. Lakota tradition is for the body to lay overnight to communicate with relatives who have passed before, and will guide him to the spirit world.

Staff of honor: Louis Kills Straight holds a staff adorned with buffalo hair and eagle feathers, along with photos of tribal members who are serving in Iraq.

“He earns the American flag from his government,” says Vietnam veteran John Around Him. “He earns the eagle feather from his people.”

A complete pictorial tribute of Cpl. Lundstrom’s moving memorial service located here. Very touching. Thanks to Tim at Final Embrace.

Starmark Funeral Products recently conducted a nationwide survey of 400 people who planned to be cremated. The goal of the survey was to discover consumer preferences with regard to cremation services, caskets and urns.

Whether it’s vanity or modesty, more than 75% want to be clothed when cremated and most want to be dressed in meaningful attire.

Eighty percent would like to avoid a public viewing.

79% would like to have a religious leader, friend or family member preside over their service, whether it’s a full blown funeral or simple memorial service.

73% were not aware that “rental caskets” are available at most funeral homes for open or closed-casket services followed by cremation.

When asked if they would like to use a funeral home chapel for their family gathering, nearly half said no.

The tough decision was what to do with the ashes. In various questions regarding the final resting place:

77% preferred scattering in a special place.

35% would leave it up to the family.

58% would like to avoid being left with the family.

Only 4% would like to be placed in an urn in a loved one’s home.

Full survey results here.

Many of our families are not sure what they are going to do with the ashes. Some plan to spread or scatter at a later date. It’s not uncommon for families that have been holding the ashes for a couple of years to finally make a decision and purchase an urn.

Make your wishes known.

Today’s tip for better living: Get your clothes laid out for tomorrow.

Our hearts go out to the family of Casey Adams of Santa Rosa, CA who was killed this past weekend on a camping trip. 26 years old. Here’s the sketchy heart breaking story.

We’re noticing a trend of MySpace pages that are turning into online memorials and video tributes uploaded to YouTube. There’s even an archive of deceased Myspace members on My Death Space page.

Virginia Tech set up an official Virginia Tech MySpace page days after the shooting and more than 7650 people listed themselves as friends of that page.

A West Virginia blogger started a collection of personal web sites and MySpace pages of Virginia Tech victims. West Virginia blogger says, “I am doing this in good taste. I hope it doesn’t offend anyone. The reason behind this is that it’s one thing to hear a list of names on TV, or read them online, but if you take a second to view a bit of the persons personal life it will give you a deeper understanding of that person.”

We’ve never been a fan of logo wear, although it’s hard to avoid. Never felt that we’d attract more attention by carrying a Louis Vuitton purse.  But for those who worship at the altar of advertising, you are in luck!  Now, you can brand your soul!

One of the funeral trade magazines report that Lifestyles Casket is hoping to cater to American consumers by offering branded caskets.  The most popular style is designed by Nike and Alexander Julian.  The Nike swoosh adorns the exterior of the hardwood casket and the interior utilizes the same material Julian used in basketball uniforms. Made in China.

For feminine tastes, the company offers a design from Cindy Crawford Furnishings and Martha Stewart.

Harley Davidson, Bose and Lexus are among the other premier names available, with the companies logos prominently displayed on the casket’s exterior.

We couldn’t find any pix or press releases on the internets to support the official launch of this product line.

There are some Harley “inspired” items out there, this casket for one:

The Silver Eagle with detachable handles that you can save for a “keepsake”.

And the Harley Hearse, which is a hog hitched to an $80,000 hearse:

El Camino Memorial in California uses the hearse that has already received lots of attention. In the first funeral, the young man who died was placed in a gold casket inside the coach. The funeral home offices were flooded with calls from people who thought a celebrity had died.

Today’s tip for better living:  Just Do It!

Dedicated to those we’ve loved and lost.

Jetpacks has a good post today regarding Google and holiday recognition.  Enjoy!

Our deepest sympathies to the Curran family on the loss of Kevin.

Curran, 42, of Ozark, Mo., died Saturday after the rental car he was driving plunged 140 feet off a West Maui cliff into the ocean while on his honeymoon. He would have been 43 today.

The couple married May 5 in Eureka Springs, Ark., and arrived on Maui on May 13.

Maui police reported that on Saturday, May 19th, Curran was driving a 2006 Ford Mustang southbound on Honoapiilani Highway in West Maui when the car ran off the road during a left turn and landed in the ocean 140 feet below.

Survivors include his wife Jill, two daughters, age 13 and 16; parents; two brothers; two sisters; and several nieces and nephews.

Heartbreaking story in the Star Bulletin

Unprofessional posting and real life observations:

The t.v. commercial says you can be mobile- “Don’t wait until you fall- Get a Jazzy Chair!”

But what if you fall out of your Jazzy Chair?

One of my neighbors buzzes the neighborhood on his scooter. He’s a big man, and frankly I think he needs something with a little more horsepower.

Well, I happened to be looking out the window when I saw him round the corner, get it on two wheels, try to save it by going “off-road” and then finally tipping over. Forgive me, but I laughed.

He recovered, did a burn out and motored off into the sunset.

Speaking of taking it to the streets: Let’s just put it out there and see what happens.

Sorry for the blue pix, shot thru my windshield in traffic.

Sunday night is must see T.V. for two more weeks….until the Soprano’s season finale.
We’ve watched for several seasons, but recently had a revelation about the lyrics to the Soprano’s theme song. This verse in particular:

But you’re one in a million
You’ve got that shotgun shine.
Born under a bad sign,
With a blue moon in your eyes.

All this time I thought it was:

But you’re one in a million
You’ve got that shotgun shine.
Born under a bad sign,
With a boom boom in your eyes.

Boom-boom made sense, like somebody got their eye shot out.

Ok, I just cracked myself up. Back to work.

Today’s tip for better living: Slip something past the censors.

The hearse that carried the body of President John F. Kennedy failed to sell at a classic car auction in Seabrook yesterday.

Apparently the highest bid of around $900,000 wasn’t enough for the owner of the historic vehicle.

After his mother-in-law’s funeral, Nathaniel Craigmiles saw the exact casket that had cost him $3,200 in Tennessee selling for only $800 in a New York City store. Hmmm.

Craigmiles, pastor of Marble Top Missionary Baptist Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee, saw a good business opportunity. He opened his own casket store and set his prices 30 to 50 percent below what other Tennessee casket dealers were charging.

After the business was open one week, however, the Tennessee Board of Funeral Directors ordered Craigmiles to stop selling caskets.

That’s because Tennessee law states that anyone who sells a casket must also be a licensed funeral director. To accomplish this, one must go through two years of training (which costs thousands of dollars), embalm 25 bodies and pass a license exam.

To sell a box. Outrageous! Full story here. This same scenario has been played out in several other states, among them, Oklahoma, Maine, Georgia, Mississippi and unsuccessfully in Missouri.

We’re crazy for the Soprano’s and found this article on the funeral home featured in the show. While familiar with the iconic HBO series, it was not yet must-see-TV for North Jersey funeral home owner, James J. Cozzarelli Jr.

“Actually, I don’t have cable. I have rabbit ears,” Cozzarelli says.

And the colorful Cozzarelli has become a celebrity. Although an elder actor (Ralph Lucarelli) played him for the first few episodes, the real man has since appeared as the show’s funeral director.

Cozzarelli, who now has his own design business, calls his upstairs home the “secret rooms.” Though viewers never got to see them, because “Sopranos” creator David Chase was afraid of damaging the priceless, palatial-style finishes and furnishings (including several optically pure crystal chandeliers that are so sensitive one has to don surgical gloves to touch them), Chase and his cast loved to hang out up there during breaks.

“Except Paulie,” Cozzarelli says of actor Tony Sirico. “He never came up. Deathly afraid.”

Today’s tip for better living: BAD BREATH IS BETTER THAN NO BREATH!

Our hearts go out to the mother in Southern California who lost her son last month in a motorcycle accident. He died doing what he loved.

Remember Thomas, her only son. Here’s his My Space page courtesy of his mom.

Then we read about Section 60 at Arlington in the Washington Post. Login may be needed.

In Section 60, death remains too fresh to be separated from life.

You see it in the 17 cigars pushed into the grass near one headstone, signs that a combat unit stopped by. Here in Section 60 are the graves of 336 men and women killed in Iraq and Afghanistan — almost one in 10 of the dead. Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom have produced the highest percentage of burials at Arlington National Cemetery from any war. For the duration of this war, there have been few photographs of coffins returning home.

In May 2005, Beth Belle’s son, Nicholas Kirven, was the first to be buried in a brand-new row of graves. Two years later, five rows extend from his headstone.

Section 60 is the one place to get a sense of the immensity of the nation’s loss.

Today’s tip: If you’ve never been to Arlington National Cemetery- GO!