Rebecca Bagley
Professor Mathews
English Composition I
Day month year
Cremation
“Sometimes you just burn your life and begin again and even again, no ink is permanent. No path carved in stone.” (Abani 2016). Is this all life is coming down to, something we burn through and then nothing is left. We do get to pick what path we take and how we want to be remembered. People get to pick the path they take when it comes to being buried or cremated. My mom has picked the path of cremation for when she leaves this world. I do not understand this choice she has made. None the less I will respect her wishes and have her cremated. What is the history of cremation? What are the steps to cremating someone? Where did my mom get this idea? These are some questions I have about this choice my mom has made.
Cremation got started in the western world by the Greeks in the early 1000 bce. During this time, it was the only way to get fallen soldiers of war, back to their home land form alien territory. The ashes were gathered up and sent to the homeland for ceremonial entombment. (Britannica Academic 2008). I understand why this type of cremation had to happen. It helped get soldiers home and it also helped with keeping diseases from spreading. The history of cremation has changed a lot since this time. They don’t use open flame any more to cremate. Instead the body is placed in a chamber. In the chamber intense heat transforms the body to a just a few pounds of white, gray ash powder. This process only takes about an hour or two. Some families want the ashes to put in an urn, so they can keep them at home others have a small plot set up at the cemetery for burial or to put them in mausoleum.

Work Cited
Abani, Chris. “cremation. “Harvard Review, no. 50, 2016, p. 184. General One File,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A491983979/ITOF?u=wylrc_western;sid=ITOF;xid=73670e26″Cremation.” Britannica Academic, Encyclopedia Britannica, 12 Sep. 2008. Academic-eb-com.library.westernwyoming.edu/levels/collegiate/article/cremation/27838