(no subject)

[threeplusfire]

The month winds down. My father is still dead, his ashes still sitting in a cardboard box in my dining room. (I don't know what to do with him. I am paralyzed with indecision.) The sun is still burning, the grass dying, the drought cracking the ground and making monsters of us all.

I'm trying not to hate myself, to give myself space for the difficult feelings. It's very, very hard when the hate is still so physical. As much change as I've made, it never feels like enough.

Today a stranger addressed me as a man, and I can't express the simple relief I feel every time that happens.

A couple times, my father expressed his regret about not having a son. I don't remember his exact words. But it was a thing he said, and I remember the moment, the table in our dining room on Barrington, the color of the light, the shadows of the kitchen. The only thing I really regret is that he felt he didn't have a son, when I was right there. Just in disguise.

Comments

[splix.livejournal.com]

I can't wait for autumn.

Do you have a couple of options for his ashes?

I'm glad you were recognized today.

[tsarina.livejournal.com]

I could do whatever with them. I don't especially want to keep them, which is why I didn't get an urn. I do feel kind of bad about him being in a box so long.

I suppose I could scatter him somewhere, but I have no idea where. Or the legalities of dropping ashes in various places.

[rockstarbob.livejournal.com]

This is achingly beautiful.

[avidbeader.livejournal.com]

*hugs*

A quick Googling suggests that you can scatter his ashes legally on any private property if given permission by the owner or public property if given permission by the agency in charge of it. Waterways should be avoided. Ocean scattering is permissible if you are three miles or more offshore.

While searching, I found that turning one's ashes into a piece of a new coral reef for marine life is a thing. I found that rather neat.

[tsarina.livejournal.com]

Thank you friend.

[tsarina.livejournal.com]

I figured there was something like that. I feel strange, because I have no idea what he would have wanted. No one was very helpful on that score.

I saw an AMA sometime this year with a person who worked at a glass blowing studio that did memorial pieces incorporating ashes. I am tempted to do something like that.

[weirdquark]

If you don't know what he would want and you're not getting any help, do whatever you think would be cool. Or whatever causes you the least stress. You could try writing down a list of options and rolling a die and doing whatever chance dictates instead of having to decide.