Scatter those ashes but hold the memories close

A reader commented on the scattering of ashes and believes it will only be a generation or two before we return to putting most bodies in a cemetery. He worries about the survivors being able to maintain a connection with their ancestors through graveyard visits. Scattering to him is the act of leaving no trace for anyone to remember you. It also carries with it, the denial of an afterlife.

I don't believe that scattering ashes is dishonoring the dead. It is my opinion that you do not have to bury a body in a cemetery to honor the dead. There are many ways to leave a memorial to the dead. A memorial can be a permanent marker or a virtual one to visit. Scattering is not an anonymous throwing of ourselves back to nature but a returning of the body to to its origin. Most people will scatter their loved one's ashes in a place along with a marker.

Like my wife, a lot of people will also keep a small amount of ashes from their love ones in a locket to maintain that spiritual connection. The rest will be scattered in a place that honors them. A place they have chosen to forever rejoin the earth. Some choose a cemetery, some a national park, and some a memorial garden.

In the end, honoring the dead is honoring their life. It is not visiting them in a cemetery. It is memories that you should share often with your loved ones still alive. Stories you and your siblings share each holiday about grandma or mom. Those memories that make you smile and bring the love back once more to your face. Scatter those ashes but hold the memories close.