Dying Well

@fhardaway1 "No Concrete Vaults" I think some areas in the states require the concrete, you may already know this.
Otherwise I agree with all and do hope to avoid the concrete vaults.
Barbara

Be aware that funeral directors may say things are "required by law," when in fact it is not true. They may have been taught this in mortuary school and don't realize it's not legally required because it's what they've always done.

Books by Caitlin Doughty are a source of good information about death, care of the body and burial.
She is a mortician who has dedicated her life to promoting natural burial.

Simple burial options are becoming more common around the US.

@shmerdloff To me, propriety signifies being socially or morally acceptable. I think if we want something to be said as "coming from our mouths", we should be able to say what we want. Of course, this is coming from a red-headed rabble rouser ;))
Ginger

Well, we’re having quite a lesson in our co-housing community.

I mentioned that C. was diagnosed with advanced, spreading lung cancer late in May. Almost the same week M. was similarly diagnosed. Both are women, late 60s, never smoked.
The first step for each was genetic studies of their particular cancers.

M. won the luck of the genetic draw. Her cancer is specifically targeted by new medicines, and she is improving noticeably after starting treatments.

C.’s cancer has no targeted treatment. Her condition is deteriorating rapidly. It’s quite a shock to all in our community.

Not long ago C. was “planning to make end-of-life plans.” Now it doesn’t look like she has the strength to visit the natural cemetery she hoped to visit. She has good, close family who will take care of things as she wants.

I’ve had friends die of cancer, but never saw such rapid progression of the disease.

@edsutton

Dealing with life's wacky changes:
Fifteen years ago we made our medical power of attorney documents.
My wife has first MPOA for me, and my second is a friend and professional associate with whom we were close at that time. Because of our age and possible cognitive issues, the second MPOAs are important.

Since then some things have changed. My friend and his wife have become followers of an internet based cult/religion. In a recent conversation I realized that he now considers my end-of-life orders contrary to the messages from heaven he follows. He urges me to learn all about this.
I'm glad we had the discussion!

It's time to find a new person for second POA.

@edsutton Cremation is an option that allows the spreading of ashes, to burial of the ashes in a container, such as a "SAD" box which is a wooden box that will disintegrate over time. Some people have kept the ashes in urns in the house. My wife's ashes were placed in a SAD box on a hill overlooking our house. Her mother's ashes were spread by her three children around the grounds of a cabin they had in AZ. The Cremation process costs around $5,000 and is by far, the least expensive way to handle a body with dignity.