Some families get so wierd over what to do with the corpses of their loved ones. Don't believe it? Trying dying once, then hang around to see the fireworks. Failing that, read the paper. In my own (admittedly goofy) family:
My nephew: Adopted as an infant by my brother. Raised with his mother, my brother, and the three children they had together. Rare contact with his birth father through childhood, occasional contact with him until the fateful event of his passing. THEN the birth father swoops into the picture. While family members surround the death bed, the guy shows up and claims the body. Plans to remove it several states away and hold some sort of funeral. Thank goodness my brother and his ex-wife had the good sense to not intefere.
My father: Dies. Step-mother (of the wicked variety) whisks the body off to a crematorium. We held our own gathering to mark the occaision.
Some poor CIA agent shot down in Viet Nam in 1954. Surviving nieces and nephews fight over where to bury the guys' remains. WTC hoopla over finger bones and other non-flesh remains. Family members scream bloody murder over the finds.
I get that as a society it is a good thing to value the lives of those who die, and part of the way we demonstrate that value is by honoring the remains. But I think this trend of politicizing the remains of loved ones, related ones and memorialized ones is. Well. Just plain silly.
When I die, mourn. Please. (It's good for my ego to believe that I will be mourned.) As for disposing of the remains, do it cheaply. Tastefully. Respectfully. Legally, even. But for crying out loud, don't fight over it. I'll be gone and if I've done anything right, the legacy is that you will all be considerate of each other's feelings. If one of you has to have your own way, I hope the rest of you will honor my memory by giving each other a break during difficult circumstances.
The dead are dead, fer cryin' out loud. Can't we all just get along?
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