Abby

High School Junior Suffers Loss That Has Yet To Occur
Sometimes age-appropriate comments are harder than you think. Both my parents chose to be cremated when they died. Our son was 5 at the time, and he wanted to know what happened to grandma and grandpa's bodies! I didn't want to say, but I swore I would never lie to him, so I told him they were cremated, and what that meant. He was horrified and wanted to know if it "hurt." I explained that the dead couldn't feel anything, but he kept pressing me for more information. Then he said, "When I die, please don't burn me. Could you just wrap me in a blanket and put me on the couch?" With a lump in my throat, I said sure.