The steady rise in the popularity of cremation may be due to a number of factors. As an alternative to a traditional internment with a casket and a cemetery plot, cremation may prove to be far more affordable. There is also the question of space, as cemeteries are filling or have filled to capacity. It may not be ignored, either, that age-old religious bans on the practice have lifted, opening up different choices to millions of people. It follows, then, that once the decision to cremate has been made, another choice looms on the horizon. How do you store the ashes of your loved one? Many people still envision a ceramic urn on the mantle as the classic method of keeping ashes. Of course, many last wishes entail the scattering of ashes over a beloved spot or across a body of water. Expanded options now abound, as there has been no lack of creativity applied to the situation by industrious and compassionate entrepreneurs. The following are just some of the ways people may choose to be memorialized.
Make It a Blast
It may seem especially appropriate to some people to follow a cremation with a fiery tribute. Ways to light up the sky in memory to a lost loved one include:
- Incorporate ashes into live ammunition. Two law enforcement officers in Alabama founded a company that makes ammunition loaded with a loved one's cremains. After they are fired, the spent shells are presented to the family in a box with an engraved plate.
- Make any day the Fourth of July. People who were firecrackers in life may be remembered with their own spectacular memorial by having fireworks made with their ashes.
- Boldly go. Cremains may be sent into space on actual missions and be released into outer space.
Wearable Memorials
There may be some people who prefer to keep a loved one close at all times. One way to make this happen is to commission a diamond made from ashes. To artificially produce a diamond from ashes takes a few weeks, versus the millions of years required to form one naturally in the earth. It is nonetheless a real gem that may be cherished forever, and a great way to fashion a lasting memento of your loved one. A less eternal but equally portable method of keeping a loved one at your side is to have a tattoo made from a combination of ink and ashes. Resources are available to find an artist that specializes in the safe creation of this kind of memorial.
Art, or a Fitting **Tribute
While cremation is often lauded as being a less expensive alternative to an internment with a casket, there is nothing preventing people from spending money if they want to. For just under $3,000, one may have a three-dimensional urn made of one's own image using photographs and facial recognition software. Heirloom-quality hourglasses may also be made from cremains, as well as other forms of sculptures. People who leaned more toward kitsch, or who had specific preferences in life, may be affectionately remembered to their families in creative form, too. To honor the handyperson, a family may have an urn made to resemble a Craftsman toolbox. A humorous tribute may come as a handcrafted pizza box urn made from poplar; the loved one's name may grace the lid on an engraved plate.
Float Away
Creative ways to say goodbye seem to know no limits. There are organizations today that may plan a balloon ride to set cremains upon the winds at 30,000 feet, and companies that make memorials that are intended to be buried deep below sea level. Many people find comfort in times of loss through these personalized memorials. Creative options may help people grieve and process their loss by connecting with the spirit of those that have passed.
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