Funerals USA
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Funerals USA offers funeral planning advice for a family’s executor in making many critical decisions. Features comparative pricing models for interment services in the United States.…disposal of the dead falls rather into a class with fashions, than with either customs or folkways on the one hand, or institutions on the other … social practices of disposing of the dead are of a kind with fashions of dress, luxury and etiquette. One of the interesting things about burial practices is that they provide many a clue to the customs and society of the living. The very word “antiquarian” conjures up the picture of a mild-eyed historian groping about amidst old tombstones, copying down epitaphs with their folksy inscriptions and irregular spelling, extrapolating from these a picture of the quaint people and homey ways of yore. There is unconscious wit: the widow’s epitaph to her husband, “Rest in peace - until we meet again.” We are left to wonder if this is some ritual act of contemplation, a heartfelt belief that when we die we meet those that have gone before us, or comforting words left for those that remain. For purposes of comparison they might recall the words of Andrew Marvell, a poet from an earlier culture, who thus addressed his coy mistress: The grave’s a fine and private place, but none, I think, do there embrace. They might rashly conclude that twentieth-century America was a nation of abjectly imitative conformists, devoted to machine-made gadgetry and mass-produced art of a debased quality; that its dominant theology was a weird mixture of primitive superstitions, superficial attitudes towards death, overlaid with a distinct tendency towards necrophilism… Where did our burial practices come from? There is little scholarship on the subject. Thousands of books have been written describing, cataloguing, theorizing about the funeral procedures of ancient and modern peoples from Aztecs to Zulus; but about contemporary American burial practices almost nothing has been written. The official historians of American undertaking describe the origin of our burial practices as follows: “As a result of a long slow development, with its roots deep in the history of Western civilization, it is the common American mind today that the dead merit professional funeral services from a lay occupational group. These services include embalming, the preparation of the body for final viewing, a waiting period between death and disposition, the use for everyone of a casket that is attractive and protects the remains, a dignified and ceremonious service with consideration for the feelings of the bereaved, and an expression of the individual and group beliefs. . . .” Elsewhere they assert: “The roots of American funeral behavior extend back in a direct line several thousand years to early Judaeo-Christian beliefs as to the nature of God, man and the hereafter … Despite the antiquity of these roots their importance as regards the treatment of the dead in the world that commonly calls itself Christian today cannot be overemphasized.” In two misinformation-packed paragraphs, we are assured not only that American funerals are based on hallowed custom and tradition, but that they conform to long-held religious doctrine. There is more than a hint of warning in these words for the would-be funeral reformer; he who would be bold enough to make light of or tamper with the fundamental beliefs and ancient traditions of a society in so sensitive an area as behavior towards its dead, had better think twice. A “long, slow development with its roots deep in the history of Western civilization,” or a short, fast sprint with its roots deep in money-making? A brief look backward would seem to establish that there is no resemblance between the funeral practices of today and those of even fifty to one hundred years ago, and that there is nothing in the “history of Western civilization” to support the thesis of continuity and gradual development of funeral customs. On the contrary, the salient features of the contemporary American funeral (beautification of the corpse, metal casket and vault, banks of store-bought flowers, ubiquitous offices of the “funeral director”) are all of very recent vintage in this country, and each has been methodically designed and tailored to extract maximum profit for the trade. |
Handy Expressions offers a wealth of information about the fascinating subject of baby sign language, from an experienced (UK) baby sign language teacher.
By using simple signs for everyday vocabulary (eg: ‘more’, ‘food’, ‘milk’ etc), hearing babies are also able to enjoy earlier communication with parents, reducing childhood frustration and behavioural problems. It also reduces the frustration for parents by helping them to
There are numerous benefits seen in signing infants. Recent research
All About Gifts & Baskets offers unique gift baskets and gourmet food gifts that are perfect for all of life’s celebrations! The company was founded in 2002 as an Internet retailer, with the goal of making gift giving easier. Our customers frequently send gifts to others, often in different parts of the country, and we make this process easy. Customers simply browse our website to find the perfect gift, and purchase and pay for the transaction online. Then we ship it direct to their recipient, with their personal note attached. This saves our customers time and money, as they no longer have to drive to the mall, shop multiple stores, then wrap the gift themselves and take it to a shipping store to have it sent. With over 2,000 gifts to choose from, we have gifts for all budgets and occasions.
Baby Original offers free advice for expecting parents and supporting family and friends. Main topical sections include pediatrician care, parenting, grandparenting, motherhood fitness and health, and social issues including pets, siblings, and schooling.
You’ll probably feel a little awkward and clumsy the first few times you diaper and dress your baby, but with a little practice, you’ll be handling him with ease and confidence. Use a waist high table of some kind even for a tiny baby so you won’t have backaches. An old dresser with a pad on top will now, but modern changing tables have built-in safety straps to hold your baby when he is old enough to squirm and resist. If you use disposables, diapering is almost automatic: lay the baby on the diaper, fold the front half of the diaper up over the baby and fasten it with the convenient attached tapes. [Those tapes sometimes tear, instead of throwing a diaper away, mend it with masking tape.] To keep wetness from soaking into outer clothing, use disposables with elasticized legs and turn the plastic top of the diaper to the inside. A cloth diaper can be given a figure eight twist at the crotch for both double thickness and a tighter fit. Pin the back of the diaper over the front, slipping one or two fingers between the cloth and the baby’s skin to keep the pin from sticking the baby. Use a pincushion or bar of soap to hold diaper pins [do not use ordinary safety pins, and keep them out of the baby’s reach] Never hold pins in your mouth. Whichever kind of diaper you use, lay an extra one over your baby boy to avoid being squirted while you change him.
Green Papaya lists 240 of the most medically useful plants in North America… there are at least a thousand other species whose reputed virtues equal these initial few but we needed to start some place… and so we did.
DISCLAIMER: Green Papaya offers Home Remedies with specific annotations to health and well-being. Such remedy advices are offered as emergency first aid and are governed by the Good Samaritan Act. Under the common ‘Good Samaritan laws’ - “a citizen is obliged to provide first aid when necessary and is immune from prosecution if assistance given in good faith turns out to be harmful”. Within our developing “wireless world” there comes a time when the only immediate assistance is that offered through the Internet. Green Papaya therefore feels that obligation and thereby offers this resource of Home Remedies as necessary.
Some Americans who appreciated the combination of Indian and Colonial herb practice wrote about it. One such, Dr. Samuel Thomson (1769 - 1843) of New Hampshire, in 1822 produced an 800-page manual at the then almost prohibitive price of $20.00.