Ashes To Ashes

[poliphilo]

We picked the ashes up from the Co-op's new premises in Oldham. They came in a cardboard box, in a shiny purple carrier bag. They were surprisingly heavy. You hear the word "ashes" and you think of wood ash which is light and fluffy. Human cremains are more like something you'd spread on an icy road. Ailz says our ashes weigh as much as our bodies weighed at birth. I'd heard that one before. I'd like it to be true but has anyone actually tested it?

There was a bottleneck at the cemetery gates. Cars coming. Cars going.  This place was laid out before there were cars. A guy in a kilt and highland bonnet was unpacking his gear from the back of a van. Later we heard the skirl of his pipes from another corner of the cemetery complex.

There are raised rose beds on three sides of the crematorium chapel; that's where the ashes go. Behind the beds-  beyond a walk-way of astroturf- is the wall where the imitation stone memorial plaques are displayed. An attendant put the ashes into a pot with a handle; The handle has a lever in it; you press the lever and the ashes come out the bottom. Ailz and Dot did the business. For future reference, the ashes are in bed #1. The sun was shining- a rare occurrence this summer. 

Comments

[ron-broxted.livejournal.com]

The only thing I heard (from a guy who worked in a crematorium) was that all the ashes are mixed up. The ones you got will have a % of the previous person and some of "your" ashes will be put in with whomever was after your cremation. I am opting for burial, mostly cos I saw a TV prog on archaeology and being dug up in 1000 years and having someone go "Ooh he had a broken nose" sounds interesting!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I'm not at all surprised. I've always assumed some mixing would occur.

[lblanchard.livejournal.com]

My brother-in-law went to the crematorium to make sure the oven had been cleaned before they did my sister.