Teddy Bear Urns

With names like “Bearly Gone Angel,” and “Huggable Urns,” stuffed animals containing the earthly remains of an individual's loved ones are intended to be comforting. The end result, however, is generally somewhat discomforting—at least for me. I admit that I have my own issues with puns and wordplay in the context of the earthly resting place for the physical remains of loved ones.

When I first came across a few of these sites (and there are many) I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Was there actually a market for these types of products? Who was buying them? Was this healthy? A look at the Testimonials page tells me that there are individuals who appreciate the product, and are visibly grateful for the opportunity to handle their loss in this way (quite literally). So if some people find comfort in the stuffed animal urn, is my rebuke, then, borne from my inner traditionalist? In the end, I think that it's safe to say that my opinion of how other people handle their grief is of zero importance: to each his own.

LifeGem

LifeGem is a company which provides a “certified, high-quality diamond from the carbon of your loved one.” I had a similar reaction to this jewelry-urn as I did to the teddy bear solution to life's denouement. I have trouble understanding the need for a physical connection to the worldly body of a person whose spirit has gone. Making the organic matter beautiful and permanent, reincarnated as a brilliant diamond, for example, seems the opposite of closure. To me, a constant, sparkling reminder of my own loss would hinder the healing process.

One of the customer testimonials did, however, give me an insight as to why a person might be motivated to go to such lengths to remember their loved one. A widow wrote to thank LifeGem for the pendant made from the ashes of her late husband. She mentioned that if a loved one is buried, there is at least a gravestone that one can visit as a physical reminder of a life once lived. If ashes are scattered, there would be no longer any physical evidence beyond memories and photographs. The LifeGem, for this widow, served as this much-needed physical reminder.

The same would, I suppose be true of the teddy bear, or a traditional urn. There appears to be a very real need for many people for a physical object to touch, and remember.