esrosedotblog

FUNERARY II

So I went to the Forest Lawn Mortuary yesterday and asked to update our arrangements (no embalming, cardboard coffin, cremation and a cardboard box for the 'cremains').

You may remember (see Funerary I below) that I suspected chicanery.

Not to worry.

The place is really nice. So were the people.

They brought out the files and we went over them.

We pre-paid 1200 dollars apiece. The same thing now costs 2200!

Buy now and save!

Everything was in order.

I had to fill out a lot of new forms because the new ownership is actually more meticulous about how to handle the thing.

Details. Jewelry on or off the corpse?

Stuff like that.

Why would I burn my rings that I paid so much for?

It turns out that as domestic partners the whole thing is a lot easier. No extra papers.

The ashes will be put in a plastic urn. No more cardboard box.

It is smaller. They pulverize all the bones now.

Good.

I scattered a friend once in the Charles River; surreptitiously. Supposedly.

The bone fragments made that hard. Splashes. Visibility. And we were doing it in the dark.

I got a tour of the samples for caskets, urns, and all.

The world has sure changed.

It was a well lit display room. No mood music. Pretty sharp.

The guy was good. We came out to each other early on. That helps. The gay irony gene is never too far from the surface.

He was respectful of the business at the same time as he was considerate of my general disdain for the gear they use for the funeral rites.

You can buy necklaces with little lockets that hold some of your loved one's ashes.

Not too far over the top, huh?

That is it.

End of report.

I am ready to kick now. I have a good sense that I will be well handled.

Same if I am the second to go. I know it will be an easy process to work with these people.

I am glad that I did it.

Labels: consumerism, death