Inspired by "gravesite photos".. Items in coffins..

[tinksgirl]

My father died january of 2003.I wrote a letter to him, i also made
a copy of it for myself.My kids were very close to papa, he lived next door so they each wrote a letter drew a picture and slipped it in his pocket.My son was 16 at the time of papas death when papa became ill my son started wearing his dog tags.At the wake
i saw my son kneel at the casket take off the dog tags he put one in papas pocket and the other back on his neck then told papa he loves him.I also put in a picture of dad and me when i was about 2 years old it was the only copy of that picture and i wasnt sure i needed it for myself but i thought i could do without it and sent it on with him.

 

[cheeringmom]

The mortitians usually don't want the deceased wearing any jewelry but we kept a bracelet on my mom she had worn since was 10 yrs old. Thats is the only thing we kept in the coffin

 

[helenabear]

Originally posted by C.Ann

10 days before Christmas??? How awful for all of you! Of course any death is "awful", but so close to the holiday makes it that much worse.. If my Dad had died that close to Christmas I guess I would have done the same..

I admit, C.Ann, that it makes Christmas every year a little bit hard... especially since she loved that holiday so much. The sad thing is she died 3 days before my sister's 18th birthday. I remember almost yelling at my dad saying there was no way he could have the funeral on her birthday.

This did remind me, though, that almost all my relatives have been buried with a rosary as well. So at least something gets put in the coffin with them.

 

[joshsmom]

These are so sad--bringing me to tears, but so beautiful at the same time. I have been blessed with very few passings in my family thusfar.

 

[believe]

My Mom passed away in January and each of the grandchildren letters, drawings, etc. Her brother put a cross that was given to him by their father.

 

[momof3disneyholics]

My father was buried in dress blues from his time in the army. He had been out of the army for over 20 years when he died, but the army never left him.
When my mother died, I was too distraught to pick out her outfit or anything, but my sister in law did and picked out one ring for her to wear. When I asked her which one she picked she described it to me and it was the one I had just given her on Mother's day that same year. That suprised me that out of the hundreds of rings my mother had, she picked that one. I thought that was nice though. My mother died on her birthday in a car accident, and a few days after she was buried, we were still getting birthday cards for her in the mail. I took them down to the cemetary and layed them on her grave.

 

[shep]

Wow...These are hard to read & keep a dry eye....

 

[browneyes]

When my grandmother died, one of my aunts placed a bear I had given to my grandmother in there with her. That's the last thing I had given her and that's the only thing they had in her coffin.

 

[Eeyore1954]

My dad passed away 2/25. He always wore a lapel pin (#1 Dad) on his suit to church each Sunday, so I made sure that was on his coat lapel. He was a avid gardener of daylilies and loved working in the yard. As my DW and I were going through his house, we found a small plaque that said "Gone Gardening". We decided to put that in his hands -- it helped us and the people who came to visitation got a kick out of it. Everyone who knew dad thought it fit him perfectly.

Rest in peace, dad.

 

[Minnesota!]

My dad died November 10, 99 at age 51. Gosh, has it really been almost 5 years?

He was buried in his standard outfit - jeans, flannel shirt and socks. I had worn a guardian angel pin with his birthstone throughout his battle with cancer. When he died, I pinned it to the pocket of his shirt. He was buried with a pack of Swisher Sweet Cigars, a box of toothpicks (he ALWAYS had one in his mouth - hence his nickname "Beaver"), and my mom wrote him a long note and tucked it in his pocket. I can't remember if my brother put anything in the casket with him. I will have to ask. God I miss my father.

Today is my birthday, and he always made a big deal out of it. This morning, I SWEAR I smelled him. I could cry right now. RIP Daddy, I miss you so much!

 

[chesirechik]

When my grandfather passed away, we put a Harley Davidson patch (he used to ride in a motorcycle gang!) and a Klondike wrapper (his favorite food) along with his rosary.

 

[cheeringmom]

Originally posted by Minnesota!

Today is my birthday, and he always made a big deal out of it. This morning, I SWEAR I smelled him. I could cry right now. RIP Daddy, I miss you so much! [/B]

 

[jx3smom]

My mom loved the slot machines in Atlantic City so a cousin put a quarter in her hand to take with her.

I can tell you what we did NOT put in with her and that is shoes and stockings. She was buried in a dress but with bare feet! She never wore shoes in the house or outside around the house so she always told us that if we buried her with any thing on her feet she would come back to haunt us. My sister, brother and I all told the funeral director at different times to make sure nothing but the blanket were on her feet.

 

[RickinNYC]

I used to meet up with a group of friends, twelve of us in total, about once a month to have drinks and catch up with one another. We always met at a particular bar, Moran's in the World Financial Center in lower Manhattan. For those not familiar with the set up, it was in the shadows of the towers, almost at the base.

After 9/11, our group was down to just three.

Over the years, I'd snagged beer coasters from the bar whenever we hung out. Not a huge pile of them, I only had about two dozen or so. Not sure why I did it!

Anyway, shortly after the disaster, I was volunteering onboard a respite center that had been set up on a ferry for the rescue/recovery workers. Ironically enough, it had been docked immediately outside of Moran's, which had been left strangely intact after the collapse of the towers. It was the overnight shift and I took a break at about 4 in the morning. I had the rear deck to myself and took this time to say my final goodbyes to my friends. I tossed the coasters in the water one at a time.

I wish that there were funerals that I could have attended but given the situation, it wasn't possible. No remains.

That night brought a lot of closure but I still miss them all.

 

[Mishetta]

Very sad story RickinNYC.

Our dear friend lost his best friend since childhood in the WTC. There just never seems to be any closure when there are no remains...don't know why....

 

[C.Ann]

Originally posted by Mishetta
There just never seems to be any closure when there are no remains...don't know why....

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I think it's the "seeing is believing" thing.. When we're grief stricken our minds can play terrible tricks on us and if we don't "see" the departed, then there's this little corner of our mind that still holds out some kind of hope, I guess..

And sometimes even when we DO see them the mind can still play tricks on us.. Even though I saw my Dad in his casket after he died, for weeks and weeks I literally had to FIGHT with myself to keep from going back over to the hospital and checking his room one last time to be sure he wasn't still there..

 

[arminnie]

Originally posted by jx3smom
I can tell you what we did NOT put in with her and that is shoes and stockings.

I had not originally taken shoes for my mother to the funeral home as the feet would not show. My sister insisted that she be wearing shoes as my mother never went barefoot. It was important to my sister that she have shoes on.

Also my sister (who wears no make up and I am sure NEVER has had polish on her nails) also insisted that her nails be polished as Mother always kept her nails done.

 

[Stepharoonie!]

Sadly, when my dad died, he was cremated. We were supposed to take his ashes and scatter them in a lake in Canada, but my Mom went a little loopy and his ashes are now just sitting in a storage unit in Ormond Beach (no, I am NOT happy about this). I thought that he was going to be buried in a coffin, and was thinking about putting in his hat and grey t-shirt that he wore all of the time.

Sheesh, this thread has REALLY depressed me now