Life in the Garden

Matters of Life and Death

urn jewelry

Family Jewels

Greetings!

While doing research for an article on cremation urn jewelry, we felt the need to share early examples of the art form. So we are having an exhibit in the garden this week.

Early memento mori featured skulls and crossbones and we’ll display those later this week. Serpents symbolize eternal life and are often featured in the Victorian designs. Today’s examples will feature brooches and pendents made from jet and ebony originating from the Civil War period.

memento mori

Soldiers going off to war would often leave a lock of hair with the family, in the event he didn’t make it home. Memorial jewelry peaked in popularity during the Victorian era.

Today’s tip for better living: Absorb.

Generation X Decisions in Death

The February issue of Mortuary Management’s Colleague Wisdom asks funeral directors around the country what the trends are with younger patrons planning funerals.

Generation X’ers are likely to choose cremation for a parent or older adult, but tend to make burial arrangements for a child.

A Colorado funeral home reports that the younger clients associate viewings and funerals with grief, and prefer “celebrations” for remembering over traditional funerals. Service details tend to be more creative, often coordinated by close friends of the family. Visitations include mementos, videos, and photos on display tracing the life of the loved one.

Video tributes tend to by chosen by the younger clients and even though the funeral home may offer that service, often Xrs choose to produce the a video on DVD or Powerpoint presentation themselves. From personal experience, the video tribute is a nice touch and really personalizes the service.

A funeral director in Oregon reports that his younger clients often request an ID viewing of the body before disposition.

Arizona reports that when asked the question, “What do you want for a final tribute?”, the answer is often …they are not sure what they want….but…they DO know what they DON’T want.

We see many of these trends in the Garden, families that come to us a year or two after the passing and decide on an urn and final resting place. It’s not unusual to hear about someone storing their loved one’s ashes in the temporary container on the nightstand beside their bed and then feeling strong enough to make a decision.

Families that choose to scatter the ashes sometimes like to plant a tree or place a memorial stone in the garden. More families are purchasing keepsake items and choosing to keep the ashes in the home as opposed to burial. On a whim, we decided to add a line of jewelry that discreetly holds a tiny amount of ashes or lock of hair and has been hugely popular with families.

It’s a personal choice.

Mr. Urngarden has been instructed to harvest anything of value and pack the rest into a mortar shell for a big fireworks show! Enjoy!

Things to Do Before You Die: Discourage all things that come in gray.