Some of us are old enough to remember the days when telephones were on party lines, and in order to do any sort of instant messaging you pretty much had to be in the same room. Things have certainly changed and not just in the area of communication; we no longer look at the world the same as we did just a few decades ago.

Have you had the conversation yet about where you want to be buried? Generations that came before us hardly ever gave that much thought. They often lived the majority of their lives in one place so there was never any question about where they would finally end up. How many of us can say that anymore? Not only have we moved on from where we grew up but there’s a good chance that we’ve still got a few more moves to make.

This may be one of the reasons for folks increasingly considering the cremation process. Traditional burial is such a final decision. It probably shouldn’t make that much difference where our bodily remains are but most people are uncomfortable with the thought of moving on and leaving their loved ones. With cremation, burying the ashes is an option but so is keeping them in a decorative container or urn and taking them to wherever may be the next destination.

Of course, cost is also a factor in choosing cremation over burial. Funeral expense falls third on the list of those things we spend the most for, right after house and car. Even in a healthy economy, the cost of a funeral can be a major blow for families at a time when they can least afford it. Here also, change has come in the availability of making funeral related purchases at places other than funeral homes, which can save a tremendous amount of money. There are even online casket stores, which is something our grandparents would have considered beyond science fiction!

While it may seem that everything is changing, some things do remain the same. Death is inevitable, and we will rarely be ready to let the one who has passed go. Cremation instead of burial cannot change the fact that they are no longer physically with us, but, in a sense, it can allow us to take them with us as we make the next change.