Why do we need caskets? Aren’t they a waste of time? Why bother?
Well, there is the obvious practical side, that the deceased has to be housed in something for transportation and burial or cremation. Why not then just have one type for all, a cheap ‘box’ like the Wild West or the early pioneers?
Some 41 years ago when I started at a Funeral Home in Nelson, we did indeed only offer 3 choices of casket but it is the public that have demanded more and more choices, why, I think it is because matching the casket to the personality seems to help people in grief. To connect the casket with the personality, of the one they are saying goodbye to, in some way helps make that connection to say goodbye, honoring the one who has died with an appropriate vessel to leave in.
It’s not all about spending more money, in fact, it is often the opposite. A really good example of this is if someone had a vibrant personality and you put
them in a dark (expensive) mahogany casket, it would just feel wrong, whereas if you put them in a plain pine casket and decorated it with bright colours, then it seems to make the right connection with who they were and what they meant to us.
When my father died we took a pine casket, put it at home in the garage, and everyone
who came to see Dad in the bedroom, or to spend time with us was invited to write, draw or paint on his casket, telling its own story which was fitting for a man who was an amazing storyteller.
So, the casket, like all elements of a good farewell, should reflect the personality of the person being farewelled, which helps long-term good grief.
To watch the short of video on caskets, the why’s and background go to … Our YouTube channel
