My Friend in a Baggie

My Friend in a Baggie.

Last year Nick, my oldest and dearest friend, died on 12/21/2007. (http://www.xanga.com/rachelsent) I miss Nick terribly. He was always there for me, somewhere in the background, with his quick wit, cynical humor, and quiet attitude. Nick was the keeper of my stories and now that he is gone, those stories have no sounding board.

I am in possession of my friend Nick. He resides in a baggie, which is inside another bag full of pictures and history. I am not sure what to do with his ashes. There is a part of me that doesnt want to do anything with them. They have become mine and I am a keeper of memories. So Nick sits in baggie.

I decided to look around and see what other people do with the ashes of those they cared about. It's pretty amazing. None of these options are anything I would do with Nick.... but I think he would get a kick out of seeing some of them.

• Pagodas hold peoples ashes
  

• Cardboard coffins, shell-shaped urns and fireworks that can be packed with people's ashes were met by smiles at the Natural Death Center's Green Funeral Exhibition Saturday in London. http://www.daylife.com/photo/06V04tz6gMfeG

• The huggable urn!

• The planned launch sometime in March of a rocket carrying the ashes of actor James Doohan, who played chief engineer Montgomery Scott on "Star Trek," and Mercury program astronaut Gordon Cooper will give a fitting send-off to two men who helped popularise human space exploration. http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/s46.html
• Forget burial or cremation, there is a new option for disposing of human bodies in which a lye solution dissolves tissues into a sterile syrupy substance that can be safely flushed down the drain.

• The "crime scene" at the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction after a woman spread ashes of her loved one there. It took the Disney crew more than an hour to clean the attraction of the ashes. But by far the most popular location in Disneyland to spread ashes of loved ones is in the Haunted Mansion attraction. I suppose they hope to see their face among all those other spirits you see during that ride. Yet another popular ride to spread ashes is the "Small World" exhibit ... apparently so the spirit of the beloved can hear that nearly-imposible-to-get-out-of-your-head ""It's a Small World After All" song for all eternity. http://www.intenseexperiences.com/cremation-ashes.html

• Lucas Seaward, a portrait artist from Edmonton, Alberta, says he has developed a process for incorporating about a tablespoon of ashes into a type of pencil that can be used for drawing a memorial portrait in shades of grey.http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/07/31/1992617.htm

• Diamonds Really Are Forever..
  A small company, based in the mountainous southeast Switzerland, uses the ashes of dead people to make diamonds, as a permanent memento for their nearest and dearest.

"Nick in a baggie". I really think Nick would appreciate the humor of finding himself inside a baggie.

I miss you Nick.

Rachel