Helpful Links

Asheville Now
Your home for everything Asheville including Mountain Living, Outdoors, A&E, Outdoors, Dining, Business Directory
www.CelebrantPam.com
Celebrant Pam Vetter conducts funeral, memorial and graveside services in Los Angeles and Orange counties in California. She is also available for consulting by phone or writing services for long-distance farewells.
 
www.celebrantinstitute.org
The Celebrant Foundation & Institute is a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to training North American Celebrants and to promoting the use of ceremony to mark the milestones and transitions in the lives of individuals, families, communities and organizations.

www.compassionatefriends.org 
The Compassionate Friends assists families toward the positive resolution of grief following the death of a child of any age and to provide information to help others be supportive.

www.cremation.com
Practical information on how to locate providers of cremation, as well as legal, religious, and medical issues which surround cremation of humans and/or pets.

www.cremationassociation.org
The Cremation Association of North America is an international organization of over 1500 members, composed of cemeterians, cremationists, funeral directors, industry suppliers and consultants.

www.crossings.net
A home funeral and green burial resource center.

www.davidkessler.org
A thorough collection of resources, articles, book titles on such topics as grief, rights of the dying, and advice on coping with end of life issues.

www.fondpetmemories.com
Fond Pet Memories offers a free, virtual memorial for your family to remember the loving pet that brought many years of happiness.

The Family Plot Blog
The Family Plot Blog provides the information, inspiration and tools to facilitate pre-need funeral planning - with humor.

www.funerals.org   A Federation of Nonprofit Consumer Information Societies protecting a consumer's right to choose a meaningful, dignified, affordable funeral.

www.growthhouse.org
Comprehensive gateway to educational resources for life threatening illness and end of life concerns.

www.hospicefoundation.org
Website for national foundation, provides educational and support resources for family, friends, and professional healthcare workers.

www.iccfa.org
Website for the International Cemetary, Cremation, and Funeral Association. Information for providers and customers about cemeteries, funeral services, cremation, and memorials.

www.judishouse.org
Help and Healing for Grieving Children, this website discusses how children grieve and how to help them, as well as lists of suggested reading and other resources.

www.lovingtouchesmemorialservices.com -signature service providing funeral, memorial and life celebration services to ensure families experience a personal and uplifting gathering honoring the unique life, passions and personality of their loved one. Based in the Chicago area, Loving Touches can accommodate clients nationwide.

www.memorialecosystems.com
Memorial Ecosystems Inc. opened Ramsey Creek preserve in 1998, the first “green cemetery” in the United States.

www.memorialserviceplanning.com
The complete resource for funeral poems, funeral songs, examples of eulogies, eulogy writing tips, creative funeral service ideas, and funeral preplanning advice.

www.memory-of.com
Assists in the creation of a memorial website for your loved one.

www.pbs.org/wnet/onourownterms
The website companion to the PBS Bill Moyers program about dying. Includes financial and medical guides, as well as a Self Assessment of Your Beliefs About Death and Dying   

www.rememberwell.net
An online memorial website for you to share and celebrate the memories of your loved one with family and friends forever plus resources for home funerals, green cemeteries or natural burial and celebrant information

 www.remembrancetreepapers.com
Honor the life of your loved one by creating customized memorial stationery that at least in a small way captures his or her essence. With wording suggestions and samples we will help you highlight this person's personality, spirit, values, and life's work through artisan-crafted mementos.

 www.valleyoflife.com         Online memorial, funeral notice and grief support website, including a national funeral resources page.

 

 


 

[BACK to top]


Cremation
Cremation in the 21st Century
By Adrienne Crowther

Ask any middle aged baby boomer about their end of life preferences, and you’re almost guaranteed to hear, “well, of course I want to be cremated.” A recent national survey validates this with results showing that 46% of Americans plan to be cremated after their deaths. This statistic is a 15% increase since that question was asked in 1990.

The US is actually behind the curve in this arena. Japan has reached a 99% cremation rate, while some European countries such as Great Britain - well over 73%, Czech Republic -  more than 78%, and South American countries like Peru, are currently above 77% of deaths ending in cremations.

Most religions in the US have accepted cremation as a suitable choice. Baptist churches are still not aligned with the practice due to beliefs about appropriate treatment of the body of the deceased.

The most common reasons for choosing cremation are environmental and economical. Land is becoming more and more of a commodity, which partly explains the popularity in Japan and Asian cultures (the other important factor for Asian cultures is religious beliefs). Green burials have returned as options for the same reason.

The cost of a direct cremation is a fraction of the expense of a traditional funeral and burial. Cremation also offers greater choice in memorialization. This is evidenced by the abundance of options available, such as artist-made urns, jewelry to hold cremains, paintings incorporating ashes, etc.

There are approximately 77 million baby boomers in the US today. Projected cremation rates are forecasted at 43% of all deaths by 2025. This projection has been confirmed by CANA, the Cremation Association of North America.

[BACK to top]


Cremation
Air Travel, Cremains, and Cremation Urns
By Adrienne Crowther

Today’s climate of beefed-up security for air transport has certainly changed the way we prepare for travel. According to the TSA (Transportation Security Administration) Guidelines, cremation urns must meet guidelines as follows -

A cremation urn must be able to be analyzed through an x-ray machine. If the container is made of a material that generates an opaque image and prevents the security screener from clearly being able to see what is inside, then the container cannot be allowed through the security checkpoint.

A TSA screener is prohibited from opening the container, even if you request it. This rule is definitive, and no documentation from another source, such as a funeral home or crematory service will grant exception.

You may transport the urn as checked baggage only if it is successfully screened. Some airlines do not even allow cremated remains as checked baggage so it is advised that you check with you airline prior to travel.

Since urns are made of a variety of materials, it is difficult to predict which urns will pass through x-ray inspection. Theoretically, lighter materials allow the x-ray to penetrate, but no substance is a guarantee of a smooth inspection. It is strongly advised that you consult the TSA at: 1-866-289-9673 or by E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it  

[BACK to top]


Pets
Our First Family Pet
Adrienne Crowther

Before my children were born, my husband and I had an amazing German Shepherd named Wotan. I was pregnant with my firstborn daughter when we got him. Purebred litters are always alphabetized, and the breeder instructed us to come up with a German name starting with –W-. I was stumped, as I had been really focused on baby names at the time, and this was just pushing me over the edge. My husband immediately came up with Wotan, the equivalent of Zeus in German mythology. Having grown up with opera-loving parents, he was also very familiar with Wagner’s Ring Cycle, and the Wotan character therein.

I fell immediately in love with this puppy. The breeder told us that he probably had a 10 year lifespan. I remember cradling him in my lap during the ride home, and crying at the thought that he would probably only live to our baby’s 10th birthday.

He was as much a part of our family as any of us. Our two daughters grew up with him always by their sides. He circled around the neighborhood children while they played in our yard, because he knew that his job was to protect them. When the school bus stopped in front of our house each afternoon, Wotan greeted them by climbing up the bus steps and jogging down the center aisle for petting from every child in the bus. It was a tradition that was loved by all, especially the bus driver.

He outlived the breeder’s prediction by 2 years, and by age 12, he was visibly suffering. His rear legs dragged as he tried to run. His pace was much slower than that which is still vital and exuberant in our home videos. I knew we had to end his misery, but couldn’t let go. I cancelled 4 different appointments for his euthanasia. Three of us sat with him while he left his body at the vet’s office. One of my daughters knew she didn’t want to witness his lifeless body, and we respected her decision.

We were about to move to another part of the country, and really wanted him to be part of that move. He loved the beach near our home at that time, so we sprinkled half of his ashes into the water where he  used to play with the waves where they met the sand.  We brought the other half of his cremains with us on our long journey. We still have those ashes 10 years later. We still feel protected by his spirit.

[BACK to top]