Woman Is Stunned When Man's Cremation Ashes Crash Through Her Roof

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When Barbara Vreeland heard something burst through the roof of her Forest Grove home, she didn't know what to think.

Neighbors said it came from an airplane flying overhead. Police thought it might be the work of terrorists or people just horsing around and dumping things out of an aircraft.

In fact, Vreeland's home was pelted by the cremains of a Washington state man, which were dropped on the house by accident.

"It was a first for us," Forest Grove police Capt. Aaron Ashbaugh conceded. "Initially, we didn't know if it was an intentional act or a reckless act."

By Tuesday, the riddle was solved when the Washington man's family came forward.

The 46-year-old man died of natural causes in June, Ashbaugh said. His final wish was to be cremated and have his ashes scattered over Mountain View Memorial Gardens, a Forest Grove cemetery that is near Vreeland's home.

Family members told police the bag of ashes slipped as they were circling the cemetery in a small plane they had hired for the day. They lost their grip as they were trying to open the bag out the window of the plane.

http://www.oregonlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/metro_west_news/1094039756318270.xml?oregonian?wn

not drop them all at once....i have my dad's and they are kinda heavy.

a lot of those intended to be sprinkled by plane end up in vacuum cleaner bags.

man-a from heaven.

Remember "All of Me?" with Steve Martin and Lily Tomlin? "When I die, I want to come back as an eagle. I would fly over the forests and the mountains until I was home. Then I would shit on your head."

Please report to Planet Earth, 3rd Etheric Level.

Be sure to take an umbrella -- a rain of Catalan-speaking three-eyed frogs is forecast for later this afternoon.

--bkl

An Illinois company offers an alternative to traditional burial and cremation services -- turning your loved one into a diamond. Here are some basic facts about the process:

• Priced on par with natural diamonds, from $2,500 for a quarter carat to $14,000 for a full carat.

• Company incorporated in 2001. First LifeGems produced August 2002.

• The remains of one individual can create more than 100 certified LifeGem diamonds.

• Available in light, medium and intense shades of yellow -- "like a sunset captured in time."

• Tracking system assures that LifeGems are authentically created from the carbon "of your loved one."

• Customers receive surplus ashes of their loved one, in addition to LifeGem.

• LifeGems can be made from pets, too.