Honoring death

As much as I love my husband, who is closest to me, I would not wear a necklace that contained his ashes around my neck. I have a friend who's father was cremated and her mother kept him in an urn on the fireplace mantel. It creeped me out but the both of them seemed to like it and take comfort from having him close so to each his own I guess.

There's also necklaces that you can fill with a bit of someone's blood (though this is also done while your loved one is alive). I don't know, hair -- maybe yes, as long as I had gotten it while they were alive, I wouldn't take some of my loved one's remains anywhere they hadn't asked me to take it 'cause I'd feel disrespectful. Some families will pieces of themselves to be given to certain members of the family. Among the circles I run in, skulls are more common to be willed to someone, than ashes. All the same, I wouldn't desire to carry a piece of my loved one everywhere with me unless I was, say...homeless or something. In which case it would pain me to lose it. The idea's not a new one. I'm particularly thinking of older families and tribal traditions. Everyone's got different ways and thoughts about how a loved one's remains should be handled and how we all want our remains handled after we die. I respect everyone's ways, even if I couldn't imagine doing it myself.

There are people that do just that. In England during the Victorian Era and in the United States during the Civil War People would take the hair of loved one and make it into jewelry. Sometimes it was from a dearly departed one and some times it was love tokens It was not considered morbid at the time. For some people this is just a way of keeping their loved one near.

cobrateacher hi I imagine most people would be creeped]out with the idea of wearing one's loved one's remains and so am I. No I just could not do that. My memories of my husband sustain me so I would not need his ashes at all. I might put a lock of hair in that heart but no, on second thought memories will sustain me much better so nothing in the heart. just wear it as is and remember all your loved ones.

I have never heard of anything like that before now. That is really strange. I don't think it creeps me out really but i think I would be afraid it might open up while I had it on. My husband and I were just talking to today about whether or not we wanted to be cremated...the ashes don't bother me at all. I guess if it helps someone more or remember then it is a good thing.

I am not one to think about my loved ones body as it being them after they have passed, so I do not think that I would want to carry there ashes around. I feel that their body is only the shell and they have left it, why carry it around with you. I agree that it is morbid to do this but I will assume that there are people that would find this type of thing comforting to do.

I would never feel comfortable with wearing someones ashes around my neck. There is no way I could do it. Even if it was my husband. Besides I think that it would be hard to move past the grieving and move forward with your life if you had a constant reminder of them around you neck everyday.