Planning a funeral - others . . . or yours

Where does one start? What questions need to be answered? These books will help start the conversation and answer many of your questions.

From the authors of Grave Expectations, Carmen Flowers and Sue Bailey:

"Life is such a rich, complicated, joyous, mysterious wild ride. Everyone has stories to tell and lessons to pass on, and what better way to do that than when you're alive? It was your life; your funeral is the one time you can do and say absolutely whatever you want.

As of this writing, there is no alternative to dying. Since there's no getting out of it, why not go ahead and plan your fantasy going "away" party?"

Carmen Flowers and Sue Bailey will be the guest speakers at the Annual Meeting on 10/31/2009 of the Consumers Funeral Alliance of Maine at The Highlands in Topsham, Maine. The meeting is open to the public at a cost of $10/person.

There will be an outstanding panel of people who have done home funerals and natural burials. They will share their stories and answer questions. Resources available include information about Maine's two natural cemeteries and Chuck Lakin's display of his alternative wood caskets. Peter McHugh of Cedar Brook Burial Ground will be available to answer questions.

Grave Matters by Mark Harris is also an excellent source of information.

"Whatever Happened to ‘Dust to Dust’?
You Can Still Find It in Green Burial.

By the time Nate Fisher was laid to rest in a woodland grave sans coffin in the final season of Six Feet Under, Americans all across the country were starting to look outside the box when death came calling.

Grave Matters follows a dozen such families who found in “green” burial a more natural, more economic and ultimately more meaningful alternative to the tired and toxic send-off on offer at the local funeral parlor."