Life in the Garden

Matters of Life and Death

funeral service

You CAN Take It With You

Today we bring you a list of items that families have placed in the casket of their loved ones compiled by an Ohio funeral director :

  • fishing rods
  • bow and arrow
  • golf clubs
  • golf balls
  • basketballs
  • autographed baseballs
  • baseball gloves
  • baseball, football and basketball uniforms
  • unloaded handguns, rifles and shotguns
  • decks of cards
  • bingo cards
  • lucky pennies
  • room keys from Las Vegas
  • cigarettes
  • marijuana joints
  • pet rocks
  • favorite books
  • a tape recorder
  • a glass eye
  • sexual devices
  • jewelry
  • fruit
  • nuts
  • photographs
  • leaf collections
  • coin collections
  • Penthouse, Playboy and raunchier varieties of magazines
  • Cremated remains of cats and dogs
  • Panties
  • Money

Honor for Bravery, Lone Eagle’s Journey

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

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.

Put Some Clothes On!

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.

Goodbye Casey

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.”

Brand Your Soul

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!