I don’t know about you but I enjoy buying things online immensely – televisions, clothes, games and you can even buy funerals online these days.
The power of the internet enables us to order anything we want from anywhere in the world and get it delivered once again, anywhere.
An interesting concept for a Worcestershire funeral director… where would you like your final resting place to be? South Africa? Malaysia? The grounds of the White House?
There’s one known truth. Unless Uncle Fred wants to be un-patriated from the UK and buried in Australia, if he dies in Spetchley then he’s likely to be buried in a Spetchley Churchyard.
The same will occur across Worcestershire, whether Feckenham or Edvin Loach. Where we set up home on our last journey out of this world is where we will inevitably be buried, unless of course your Will instructs otherwise.
Born In Worcester, Bred In Worcester And I’ll Die Here Too!
Well perhaps. While Worcestershire has a fantastic learning establishment in the form of the University of Worcester and a healthy population of 100,000 within the city limits, this area of medieval activity and historic note also has an ageing population to match – it’s certainly above the national average.
Hey, we have to live somewhere! While us Golden oldies are not going out quietly, racing our sports cars around the tight lanes in your village, we do take time out to talk about the inevitable. Death. Not enough pension and more death. Light heartedly of course. Curse, fart, curse.
Yes we’re all going to die, and we have to choose between being buried at the foot of Croome court or being turned into ashes at Worcester Crematorium within Astwood Chapel, St. Johns Cemeteries or Wyre Forest Crematorium in Kidderminster.
It’s not a decision we take lightly, as we get older we watch more and more of our family and friends succumb to the expectation of old age. We learn many times over how families react to the deceased’s choice and we add our own slant on the inevitable. Should you choose burial over cremation, does it matter? Is it really a case of sizing up sauces?
Buried, Frozen, Donated To Science Or Turned to Dust?
My Mother opted for cremation, C of E but not particular religious and not constrained to the rites of a religious funeral either. I may well choose the same but why? Is it uncomfortable to choose a ground burial? Cold, damp and a little bit lonely. Would it be on grounds of faith perhaps? Some religions only allow cremation or burial, some don’t mind which.
There are even denominations that allow a Wife and Husband who have different faiths to be buried in the same graveyard of the other’s choice so they can rest in peace together. Perhaps today and especially the good people within Worcestershire, we are conscious of both environment and yes of course the finances.
I may well have worked all my life but that invitation to move into Witley Court is continually lost at Royal Mail’s HQ. Whether locally or nationally the cost of cremation is far lower than that of a full bells and whistles funeral. There’s no headstone, no grave to be dug, no graveside service, no upkeep, no rental costs and you don’t need fancy caskets with embellishments and furnishings.
There’s also the fact that the Worcestershire Crematorium and Wyre Forest Crematorium offer all the usual funeral service particulars and enable a congregation to say Goodbye and celebrate someone’s life as much as a Church can. Would you choose burial or cremation, would you perhaps offer yourself for scientific research first at the University or perhaps get frozen so you can debate politics once again in the year 2193?
A Grave Is A Monument. A Cremation A Release.
Is that true? Well certainly burying someone with a headstone will enable people to visit and have a chat once in a while for a good hundred years or so, perhaps eternally. Not all enjoy the aspect of a landmark or a family mausoleum. I suppose it depends on your heritage and the mark you wish to leave behind.
I’m sure before I decide to be cremated on an open funeral pyre and taken to the very tip of the highest Rollercoaster at West Midland Safari and Leisure Park in Bewdley, to have my ashes scattered across a whole world of fun and poured from an empty bottle of Lea and Perrins Worcestershire Sauce… that I’ll ask my family how they may wish to celebrate my life.