May 26, 2007
Stories that captivate
Written by Cindy Kirk in Jaunty PostI got to thinking today about how each of us have certain stories that we tell in casual company that always get a reaction.
One story of mine is the tale of my mother’s urn. When she died, she was cremated and we put her ashes in this beautiful ceramic urn. She’d always said she wanted to be on my mantle. But we don’t have a fireplace, so her place of honor was the bottom shelf of a grandfather’s clock in the dining room
The clock actually was made to fit into a corner, and since the urn was on the bottom I thought it was well protected.
One day I was babysitting my daughter’s two dogs (a West Highland White Terrier and a Shih Tzu.) My husband and I left them in the house when we went to the store. When we got back, the urn was on the floor…broken. That wasn’t the worst of it. The funeral home had put her ashes in a very heavy plastic sealed bag.
Yep, you guessed it. The dogs had ripped open the bag and scattered the ashes across the quarry tile floor. I had to sweep up the ashes (hoping I didn’t miss any and/or get any dust from the floor). Unfortunately the only thing I had to put the ashes in was a clear tupperware bowl (with a lid). My mother’s ashes stayed in that bowl for almost a year while I searched for another urn like the old one…with one exception. The new one had to be unbreakable!
My mother had a wonderful sense of humor and I could imagine her laughing with her friends up in heaven over this animal escapade.
Anyway, it’s Memorial Day weekend, time for sitting around with family and friends and remembering those who’ve passed on. Also a time for telling stories.
Do you have a story you’d like to share? One that always gets a reaction or a laugh? C’mon you have to have just one…
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Kimberly Logan Says:
Most of my stories involve my brother and sister and the myriad ways they found to torture and drive me crazy when we were kids. At get-togethers, my sister always seems to find a reason to break out the story about the time they pulled the chest of drawers in my bedroom over on top of me. That always gets a laugh and my niece knows the tale by heart. No, it doesn’t sound funny, and I didn’t particularly think it was too funny myself when it was happening. In fact, I was ready to string them both up. But my sis has a way of telling it that just cracks us all up.
Lois Says:
Ouch. . . good thing that never happened when we got the ashes of my grandmother! LOL Although, we have a cat, and we didn’t have her at that point. . . so it still wouldn’t have. . . but you know what I mean.
Lois
Pat L. Says:
I am sure your mom had a good laugh.
Reminds me of Meet the Fockers!
Julie K Says:
My father passed away August of 2003 after a long battle with cancer. One of my favorite memories of him was the day a squirrel took revenge upon my father.
We had this big apple tree in our backyard. One summer a squirrel decided to make his home in this apple tree. However, this tree was right next to our vegetable garden and the squirrel seemed to have a taste for fresh vegetables, or at least destroying them. One morning my father went to check on the garden and realized that the squirrel had a field day in it the day before.
That was the last straw. My father took his tall ladder, found the hole in the tree where the squirrel lived, and with BB Gun in hand he was going to scare the squirrel away once and for all. What he didn’t expect was the the squirrel had a plan of his own.
My mother warned my father not to go up the tree, but he did it anyway. He found the hole, eased the BB gun into the hole and fired!!
The squirrel ended up jumping out of the hole onto my father, he then lost his balance and fell down the ladder onto the ground and rolled down the little incline that was in our yard.
Thankfully my mother was at work that day and all my dad said to me, after he got up and brushed himself off was, “Don’t tell your mother.”
Clarisse Says:
Cindy, that is awful.
My dad was staying with us in Idaho when he passed away many years ago. He had wanted his ashes to be placed in the little shrine at his church in Philadelphia. Since it was winter when he died and his far flung aged siblings couldn’t travel that time of year, we put off the service until June of that year and dad’s ashes lived in their little “traveling urn” (i.e., cardboard box) on a bedroom shelf for a few months. When we went to the airport to fly to Philadelphia, of course the box with his ashes was in our carryon luggage and when they ran it through the xray machine (where the bone fragments showed up on the screen) all hell broke loose. “What’s in the box?” asked the stern faced attendant. “My grandpa’s ashes,” my little girl answered with tears in her eyes. Needless to say, they shuffled us right through. My dad, who had a great sense of humor, would have LOVED that story.
Cindy Kirk Says:
Lois,
I’m indeed thankful we didn’t have a cat then.
Julie,
That squirrel story was hilarious…especially the part about him asking you to not tell your mother.
Clarisse,
I never even thought about the bone fragments showing up on x-ray. Thank goodness my mother didn’t want us to transport her ashes somewhere!!
Clarisse Says:
Cindy, it is apparent from your story and mine that cremation is fraught with all sorts of potential pitfalls.