I recently posted about my happy-go-lucky great-grandfather, Ed, passing away. So, here is an update. Ed was cremated and his ashes recently arrived at my mother’s house. I went over tonight for a visit and when I put my purse down, by the couch, my mom pointed out that Ed was located nearby, in the box under the end table. I said, “Oh! Hello, Ed!” and smiled as I patted the box.
She wondered if I was interested in seeing Ed. I told her that whenever she opened the box, I would love to see Ed. And, perhaps take a little of Ed home? Who knows. She said she was ready to open the box, right then. So, we took the box upstairs (just in case my grandmother arrived, who would not get the same pleasure or amusement out of seeing Ed out of the box…).
We opened the tightly bound package, and inside was a thick, green plastic case labeled “Temporary Container”. Opening the case was a bit of an enigma and I fiddled around a bit, trying to figure out how to open it up. Suddenly, with a THUMP, the side of the box popped out and Ed started to emerge. My mom gasped as she reached out her arms, in a desperate attempt to catch the dust and pebbles that used to be Ed. My eyes bulged out. We started to laugh, as we realized that we weren’t going to have to vacuum Ed’s ashes up, that microscopic pieces of Ed weren’t going to rise into the air and choke us, since they were tightly wrapped in a plastic bag, marked with a small, round, numbered, metal tag. My mom was laying on the floor, on her back, laughing, in relief.
After we shoved Ed back into his temporary container, we thanked him for giving us a chuckle, just like he always used to.
A Morning Grouch 
That is AWESOME. And so glad you didn’t have to vacuum him up.
Another loving memory. Thanks, hon!
I’ve always been too afraid to look inside those cremation containers. Good to know I won’t need to take out a dustbuster if I ever get brave enough (I won’t get that brave, though).
My husband’s dad died when he was 17 and we have him in our dresser. He was in our garage for a while, then in our closet. Poor Gene can’t seem to settle down in one spot.
Oh, I kind of like that in a way. Gene gets to move around and you get to say hi now and then.
my sister-in-law lost a baby son a couple of years before I met my husband.
A couple of years ago, we were playing the Easter family tradition of an Easter egg hunt. It was my turn to hide some, and tot realising what the pretty container was, I placed a couple of small eggs inside.
I was later mortified when we realised that there were a couple of eggs missing…the ones still hidden in my nephews urn!!
Everyone laughed about it, and luckily, his ashes were in a plastic bag inside a velvet pouch, but I was still very embarrassed!!
Oh my! That just made me laugh out loud, but yes, I can understand how you would feel mortified. Sounds like they have a good sense of humor about it, though, which means you married into the right family.
They are a great family.
But we consider the little “incident” as a way of getting my nephew in on the festivities, long after he has gone 🙂