What to do with my late parent’s ashes?

Joburg Admin / August 6, 2010

I’m off on holiday to Morocco later this year. We’ve rented a large coastal villa with the family for a week and then the recently retired Mrs B and I will enjoy a few more days together in a rather splendid Riad in Marrakech. This is the place that all the hippies used to go to back in the nineteen sixties and some of them never returned it seems. Now here’s the potential problem. My sister has asked whether she should bring a jar containing my share of the ashes of my late parents. I’m not too sure that leaving Morocco and flying back into SA with a jar of ashes isn’t going to excite the customs people. They are going to assume that I am bringing back drugs and they are certainly not going to believe me when I tell them that I am carrying the ashes of my dead parents. So, we are going to have to make a plan. Fortunately, both my parents had a keen sense of the ridiculous and would appreciate this dilemma. When my father pre-deceased my mother she took delivery of a very handsome urn containing his ashes and put it on the window sill of the living room. Then she decided that it was too morbid having an urn containing the incinerated remains of her husband of 54 years staring at her while she was watching her favourite TV programme and she moved “Dad” to a spare bedroom. When Mum died last year she was also cremated according to her wishes and it was decided to put the ashes with my father’s ashes and make a sort of crematorium cocktail. This has now been split into three for all the children and they have already been sprinkled on my brother’s rose garden in Scotland. My sister is going to sprinkle her share around the grave of my maternal grandfather which leaves me to come up with something innovative. Both my parents were keen and regular visitors to South Africa and I don’t think they’d object at all to being emptied into a strong Cape Town south easter or scattered from the top of the Amphitheatre in the Drakensberg. At a pinch, they would even have been quite happy to be gently drizzled out of the side of a game viewing vehicle in the Kruger Park. But now I have to get them back here. We’ve already agreed that the jar has to go and they have to be decanted into a jiffy bag with a sealable top. I don’t want to put them in my main luggage because that seems a bit disrespectful and they might get nicked. So I am going to have to carry them in my hand baggage where they can enjoy a bit of business class luxury. That means I am going to have to shuffle along the security line at the airport with my toothpaste, deodorant, floss, shaving kit and other toiletries for the flight in one see through bag and my parent’s ashes in the other see through bag. Maybe there’s a law against this of which I am unaware. Are you allowed to bring ash into South Africa? But what I am really worried about is that I will get up at 3 in the morning on the flight for a visit to the bathroom and take the wrong see through bag. In my dazed state I will accidentally flush both my parents down the toilet of an aircraft at 32000 feet. And I’m not sure even their keen sense of the ridiculous would appreciate that.

You might be interested in

Explore All
Foot Health Workshop
Keep Entertained while in Quarantine

Foot Health Workshop

07 May 2020

Give your feet some attention with this amazing Foot Health Workshop. It\'s all about pampering, healing and caring.

Read more
Zoo Hospital Run And Walk
Parks and Outdoor

Zoo Hospital Run And Walk

10 Oct 2016

Round up the whole family for an exciting day out in the sun!

Read more
Great Gatsby New Year's Eve Charity Dinner
Expired Events

Great Gatsby New Year's Eve Charity Dinner

06 Dec 2018

Usher in the New Year by doing a little good and attend this New Year\'s Eve charity dinner.

Read more
Don't Miss Live Music On The Square
Events In Joburg

Don't Miss Live Music On The Square

16 Nov 2022

And just like that, the festive season is around the corner. Christmas trees are being erected, gift shopping has started and shopping destinations have been adorned with festive lights. Now, visitors to Nelson Mandela Square can enjoy the festive cheer w

Read more
Schools Setwork Festival at Joburg Theatre
Events In Joburg

Schools Setwork Festival at Joburg Theatre

18 Mar 2019

The Joburg Theatre presents the collaborated schools setworks festival from Tuesday, 21 April 2020 to Sunday, 01 May 2020. Make sure the kids don\'t miss out on this literary festival dedicated to their learning.

Read more
Jozi Women's Day
Uncategorized

Jozi Women's Day

16 Jul 2008

Date: Saturday, 9th of August 2008 Venue: The Venue Melrose Arch Illovo Johannesurg Time: 09h30 – 15h00 Join Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu from 3Talk on Jozi Women’s Day which coincides with National Women’s Day, a national event that celebrates women, inspiri

Read more