Scattering ashes is not always an easy task — here’s my story

In March of 2020 we lost my mother unexpectedly at 68 years young. In September of 2020, we lost my father unexpectedly at 72 years young. This is my story about saying our final goodbyes.

My parents’ wishes were to be cremated and my siblings and I honored those wishes. I remember picking up the boxes with their ashes. They were surprisingly light. Did you know that you can have ashes separated into separate boxes? We opted for a large box and a small box for each parent as we wanted to scatter them together at two separate sites. I gingerly carried them out to my vehicle, on separate occasions of course, and I safely buckled the ashes into my SUV.

In April 2021 we scatter the large box of Mom and smaller box of Dad at Camp Tuckaho Girl Scout Camp at the lake. My mother, and avid Girl Scout volunteer, would be at her final happy, resting place. We had a bench made with a plaque dedicated in their honor overlooking the lake. It was a nice touch. It was a chilly day. We had our families with us. It was OK. Sure, we were misty-eyed but we made it through.

Later that April, my siblings and I headed to Devil’s Back, a river area in Missouri, to scatter the large box of Dad and the smaller box of Mom. My father would be at his final happy place. It was a good two hour drive to get to the location in the middle of nowhere. As we drove, we could see the river but it looked like we could cross it. I came up to it and hit the brakes FAST as my brother yelled…