Many other cemeteries all over the country are also choosing to do the same so that they can save space instead of burying a funeral urn like some like to do. We understand that due to some traditional beliefs, such as those of the Catholics, if a person chooses to be cremated, they must also be buried as well. By adding the columbarium to cemeteries that have minimal space left for grave sites, they can put up to 72 funeral urns, neatly displayed, into each columbarium that is added to the area.

Some cemeteries are in need of the space so badly; families that have mausoleums in their cemeteries are volunteering to have them torn down for a place in the columbarium. For each mausoleum in a cemetery, approximately four graves could be put there instead. One cemetery caretaker stated that people that had their funeral urns are coming to him asking to have them exhumed to help save space. They see that it was a ridiculous waste to have it buried as they could have displayed it nicely in their own homes or in the columbarium. With so many people trying to go green, they also feel that it was a waste of natural resources that they didn’t fully understand when their loved one was being buried.

#5. Remember the Titans. Seeing the boys all grown up at the funeral of their buddy, Gerry Bertier always makes me misty.

#4. Old Yeller. If you didn’t cry at the end of that movie, you must be from the future and made of titanium, because every human being was soggy at the end of that one.

#3. Carrie. Not really a funeral, but the last scene in the field where her house used to stand and the kids that were there to pay their last respects and then YOWZA! If you don’t know what I’m talking about, rent it, put the kids to bed and make sure your bladder is empty because holy cow… it’s an all-timer.

#2. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Boromir gets done in by some filthy, stinky, Uruk-Hai, but proves himself and gains redemption in the process. Very stunning and beautiful funeral as the Fellowship lays Boromir in a birch bark kayak and sends him down stream and over a waterfall. It’s best if you watch it.

#1. Fight Club. In the ultimate guy movie, one of the soldiers dies in the line of duty during their antisocial war. When he’s brought back to the compound and laid on the table, the narrator calls him by his name. His name is Robert Paulson. His name is Robert Paulson. HIS NAME IS ROBERT PAULSON! All the soldiers are chanting that phrase which results in narrator guy’s head spinning and putting the mystery of Tyler Durdin, the war and the soap together. That’s when it really gets good.

Not every movie has death in it, but every life will eventually. Why not take some time to help your family plan your last scene? Visit http://www.perfectmemorials.com/ to find out more.

• Seven Pounds – Wracked with guilt over his wife’s accidental death, the main character makes detailed plans to kill himself. The film’s climactic ending is not for the feint of heart.
• Synecdoche, New York – Following a string of flawed relationships and an attempt to create a grand work of art, a man comes face to face with his own mortality.
• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Button is the story of a man moving toward his own inevitable demise, knowing exactly how much time he has left.

Unlike countless other movies over the years that have featured death as a central part of a story’s plot, these movies, as well as television programs like HBO’s award-winning series Six Feet Under, contemplate death for its own sake. In doing so, they present death in a new light that underscores the meaning as well as the inevitability of death.

It certainly appears that the movie-going public is ready to embrace films that have death as their central theme, with Benjamin Button alone reporting box-office earnings of more than $110 million dollars.

And why has death finally come out of the closet, so to speak? Perhaps it’s because more than 20% of Americans – the largest proportion in history –are now over the age of 65, bringing discussions of aging and mortality to the forefront.

The report focuses on a recent archeological study in which researchers found evidence of “memorial feasting” connected to centuries-old burial sites in Brazil and Argentina. According to archeologist and study co-author José Iriarte, the Jê people who inhabited the region in the 12th and 13th centuries “feasted on meat that had been steamed in the earth ovens and drank maize beer” following the burial of a community’s chief or other important person.

Excavations of the ancient cemeteries revealed earthen ovens and unidentified animal remains. Ceramic bowls and vessels were also found – some still bearing a corn residue believed to be evidence of the alcoholic maize-and-honey beverage favored by the Jê people.

In response to this growing need, Macksoud recently opened his business, Simple Funerals, with three locations in the metro Detroit area. He also maintains a website for people who prefer to shop online for funeral goods and services.

Macksoud does not own a funeral home; instead, he uses the facilities of a local licensed funeral home on a contract basis to prepare a body for burial or cremation. He also eschews visitation hours, hearses and limousines, significantly reducing his overhead costs and passing on the savings to families who can’t afford a costly funeral.

For a standard fee of $835, Macksoud will transport a body from the hospital or medical examiner’s office to the funeral home, prepare the body, complete all necessary paperwork, guide families in choosing an inexpensive casket or cremation urn, and transport the body to the cemetery or deliver the cremains to the family.

Macksoud readily acknowledges that “this isn’t for everyone,” but Simple Funerals provides a dignified alternative to a high-priced funeral for families in need.

Yes, funeral webcasts. Some people find the idea a bit ghoulish at first – perhaps they recall a well-meaning relative who, back in the day, showed up at every wake and funeral with Polaroid in hand and proceeded to “capture the moment” by shooting pictures of the corpse in the casket. Others resist injecting technology into such a solemn and personal occasion. And some express concerns that funeral webcasts will cause people to stop attending funerals altogether.

According to Mark Krause of Krause Funeral Home in Milwaukee, such fears appear to be unfounded. His funeral home began offering webcasts just last year, and already they’re handling two webcasts a week. “This doesn’t replace people coming to the funeral,” Krause says. “It allows people who can’t be there to participate.”

Funerals are for the living – they aid in the grieving process and help survivors face the reality that their loved one has died. Funeral webcasts make it possible for anyone to attend the funeral without regard to time, distance or cost. Viewers can see their friends and family members at the funeral and listen to the music and eulogies from any location with an Internet connection and a secure password.

According to Mark Harris, author of the book Grave Matters: A Journey Through the Modern Funeral Industry to a Natural Way of Burial (Scribner, 2007), a typical modern cemetery is “a landfill of largely nonbiodegradable – and in some cases toxic – material.” A July 2008 article in National Geographic Magazine supports that claim with some pretty grim statistics:

Every year,

• 90,000 tons of steel,
• 1.6 million tons of concrete and
• over 800,000 gallons of embalming fluid

are buried in U.S. cemeteries. Add to that the fact that 30 million board feet of wood ­– much of it tropical hardwood ­– are used in making caskets, and you have not only a recipe for a toxic soup, but a practice that’s clearly unsustainable.

Nathan Butler of Indiana is one funeral director in the forefront of the green burial movement, responding to the growing demand for simpler, less costly and more earth-friendly funeral services. And he’s not alone. Although the green burial movement is still in its fledgling stages, 12 cemeteries and 60 funeral homes across the country have been certified as “green” ­– a trend that’s sure to continue with the aging of the Baby Boom generation.