Monroe Chat

Oh my ~ I've never really thought about it but I suppose it is a consideration.... My personal preference would be cremation (sorry to be morbid) but I think I would have reservations about plot sharing ... hmmmm

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LONDON (AP) - So you think London, population 8 million, is crowded with the living?

There are many millions more under the soil of a city that has been inhabited for 2,000 years. And London is rapidly running out of places to put them.

Now the city's largest cemetery is trying to persuade Londoners to share a grave with a stranger.

"A lot of people say, 'I'm not putting my Dad in a secondhand grave,'" said Gary Burks, superintendent and registrar of the City of London Cemetery, final resting place of close to 1 million Londoners. "You have to deal with that mindset."


The problem is a very British one. Many other European countries regularly reuse old graves after a couple of decades. Britain does not, as a result of Victorian hygiene obsession, piecemeal regulation and national tradition. For many, an Englishman's tomb, like his home, is his castle.

That view is also common in the United States, which like Britain tends to regard graves as eternal and not to be disturbed - although the U.S. has a lot more space, so the burial crisis is less acute.

In much of Britain, reusing old graves remains illegal, but the City of London cemetery is exploiting a legal loophole that allows graves in the capital with remaining space in them to be reclaimed after 75 years.


http://apnews.myway.com//article/200910 ... ONN01.html

Why not have an option to be buried with ancestors, for those who can produce family records? While I may not want to be buried with a stranger, I'd be willing to share a spot with a great-grandma/great-grandpa, Mom and Dad, or others I'm kin to.
I believe many Central/South American countries have temporary vaults. They're used for a year or so, until much/most/all of the decomposing is done. Then the bones are removed and given back to the family to be placed in a different location. That must also save space, doesn't it?

I guess this will require much "soul searching" to arrive at an amicable settlement.

The story reminds me of what my grandparents/parents used as a regular comback when I would talk of doing something wreckless. "Go ahead, there's plenty of ground to bury you in."!

Better yet, my grandpa always said , " you'll wake up dead".