Recently I’ve been dealing with a serious illness in the family that has every indication it will culminate in death soon. This experience has me thinking about what families can do to prepare for this situation which everyone will face eventually. But that article will have to be posted another time, because I have too many preparations to make right now.
Meanwhile, a silver lining in all this: I discovered that in Tennessee you don’t have to use a funeral home or pay monopoly prices for a casket. Family members of the deceased can claim the body at the hospital and transport it in their own vehicle to their home. They can build their own casket for their loved one, or even wrap the body in sheets or quilts, and lay him in the ground on their own property (subject to zoning restrictions). That’s a nice bit of news I wanted to share. (What you can’t do is charge anyone to conduct a funeral service, unless you’re licensed to do so). Take advantage of this freedom while we still have it: start your own family cemetery.
I’ll be back soon!