Your No-Nonsense, Money-Saving Guide to Planning for the Inevitable
UK friends: website
descriptions that are specific to the UK are in green text.
Preface Links
If you know you're going to die but don't like to think about it - which pretty much means everybody - these links are just what the Grim Reaper ordered. Let's get started ...
Chapter One Links Knocking on Heaven's Door: The First Thing You Do...
Do you want Igor stealing your body parts like he did in the movie Young Frankenstein? Wouldn't you rather have a say about where your parts will go???
Did You Know...
Organs
cannot be stored and must be used within hours of removing them from
the donor's body so time is of the essence.
Signing a Uniform Donor
Card or noting your choice on your driver's license is the first step
but this does not guarantee that your organs will be donated.
What
if you die and no one can find your wallet? Or, in the UK, no one checks theOrgan Donation Register, the national database? It's important to have your
wishes written down and to let your family know - hospitals will ask
next of kin for permission.
Natural burial at The White Eagle Memorial Preserve allows the body at death to rejoin the elements that gave it birth, to use what remains of a life to regenerate new life. Here a grave is lined with a herringbone pattern of sage. Photo courtesy of The White Eagle Memorial Preserve http://naturalburialground.com/
Notes & Updates
If you are considering donating your body to science ( a very good thing to do) you should know that the whole body parts industry is not well regulated and body "chop shops" abound. For more about this practice, follow the link to Lisa Carlson's Funeral Ethics Organization Fall 2004 newsletter. http://www.funeralethics.org/newsletter
The websites for goods and services are
offered for your interest and exploration. The the act of posting them
here is not an endorsement. There are some "goods and services" sites
with whom I have had positive interaction and these sites are
noted by the following: !!!
