I still have my father’s and mother’s ashes in their original delivery boxes stashed in the back of my bedroom closet. They’re really no trouble at all. Well they could chip in toward the mortgage and cover their fair share but other than that, they ain’t bothering anyone.
But I am thinking it’s time to do something with them. Now since I have moved nine times in my life (to date) burying them just seems like ash abandonment. I lived as far north as Boston and as far south as Boca. Connecticut. Manhattan. New Jersey. Philadelphia. If I went the scattering route, I’d probably need extra ash. I’d be holding teaspoons into the wind and that seems like I’m diminishing their worth in places they’ve never even been. They went to Venezuela but that’s got ramifications. Ireland, Greece, Italy, the Scandinavian hot spots. Going that route gets expensive in air fare alone, not including weird looks at Customs.
You’re declaring what? Well how much are they worth?
Putting a price tag on their heads doesn’t seem right in any game plan. Some people go with expensive urns or have ashes pressed into beautiful glass objects. (I’m considering mixing them for some sort of artistic effect.)
Now my father died in 2017 and mother passed in 2023. It’s almost 2026. It’s time to do something. They’ve been in NJ and now PA. They’ve been Fed Exed and UPS’d, spent some time in solitary confinement (storage unit) but mostly underneath my sweaters with a brief stay in my sock drawer.
As I said, I’m likely going the turn ’em into art route. Nothing flashy like a sun catcher or Christmas ornament. Something low key lest I ever have to explain to someone that the salad plates were once my parents.
- I gotta get moving on this project.
- They’re not getting any younger. Neither am I.
- One mixed ash work of art to go please.
PS: The weirdest idea regarding ash art I came across was to heat them into ink for a tattoo. So if you’re finding this whole ordeal weird, picture this at the dinner table. The salad plates are sounding pretty good, eh?
Jeff, What can do with ashes. Get small bottles and fill them with your parents ash with a label . Name, pill name, purpose of antidote. Not to pick on your mother and don’t hold it against me. Just an observation, she always had an ailment. Put in them in a shadow box. But now what I think it will be too much work and would you put it on your wall I don’t think not. I always said to my daughter is put me in the cat’s litter box That would solve a problem for her. End of story.
Paul, your memory is spot on! I think I need extra filler ashes. She had quite the list of medical “issues”!