What To Know About Cremation

Planning how your body will be handled when you die is not something you may want to do but it can help your loved ones cope effectively with your demise.

While arranging a traditional burial might seem like an obvious choice, you should consider cremation too. Cremation provides a variety of fantastic advantages over a full traditional burial. It eliminates the need for a gravesite, provides portability of cremains, offers more options for your final resting place, and can save you money.

If you're caught in the burial vs. cremation conundrum, learning as much as you can about cremation can help you make an informed decision. Here are some important facts you should know about the cremation option.

Each cremation is performed separately.

One of the common myths some people have regarding cremation is that funeral homes can incinerate multiple bodies at once to cut corners. This practice is not only illegal but also impractical.

The incinerators used in crematories are typically set up to burn one body at a time. This makes it impossible for funeral homes to incinerate more than one corpse at a time.

It's possible to have a cremation and a normal funeral service.

Many people think that they can't have a funeral service if they choose to have their corpse cremated. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Once your body has been incinerated and the ashes put in an urn, your family can still hold a funeral service just like the one for a traditional burial. The only missing aspect will be the burial event, as there will be no casket to lower into a grave.

Your body is reduced to crushed bones, not ashes.

While what will be given to your loved ones at the end of the cremation process is referred to as "ash", the cremation process doesn't actually burn the human body to ash. The cremation process only burns the skin, soft tissue, hair, and water in your body. What remains behind is bone — your skeleton.

The bone is left to cool off and then put in a crushing machine to achieve the consistency of ash. 

Cremation continues to grow in popularity as people become more aware of the options available with regards to having a decent send-off. If you feel cremation is right for you or have questions regarding cremation services, consult the experts at a funeral home near you. 


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