We mourn our loss of a good husband, father, grandfather, father-in-law, son-in-law, and friend. There is a sense of unfairness that Ralph’s life would end just a couple of years before retirement, which he had many plans for. We mourn his dreams that will never be fulfilled. An old proverb says that: “Life is short, but wide”. Ralph’s life may have been shorter than we hoped it would be, but it was crafted meticulously with his own hands and filled wide with many, many happy moments spent with his family, whom he deeply loved.
Despite being an obvious source of carbon emissions, cremation also has environmental advantages over burial, depending on local practice. Studies by Elisabeth Keijzer for the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Research found that cremation has less of an environmental impact than a traditional burial (the study did not address natural burials), while the newer method of alkaline hydrolysis (sometimes called green cremation or resomation) had less impact than both. The study was based on Dutch practice; American crematoria are more likely to emit mercury, but are less likely to burn hardwood coffins.[73] Keijzer's studies also found that a cremation or burial accounts for only about a quarter of a funeral's environmental impact; the carbon emissions of people travelling to the funeral are far greater.[73]
In early 2002, 334 corpses that were supposed to have been cremated in the previous few years at the Tri-State Crematory were found intact and decaying on the crematorium's grounds in the U.S. state of Georgia, having been dumped there by the crematorium's proprietor. Many of the corpses were decayed beyond identification. Some families received "ashes" that were made of wood and concrete dust.[127]
Some people turn to cremation over burial or entombment because of the convenience, finding it more practical or cheaper to handle ashes instead of a body. Others might be squeamish about the idea of decay and are attracted to the "sanitizing" effect of flames, while some people find it fitting with their spiritual beliefs. Whatever the reason, more and more people are choosing cremation.
