Till death do us part.

• Author: Phifer, Kenneth W.
• Position: Letter to the editor

I appreciated the article "Natural Burial: Bringing Death Back Down to Earth" (July/August issue). Another good alternative is to donate one's body to medical science, as my wife chose to do, and then scatter the ashes in some appropriate place, in her case the memorial garden at our church. No funeral, just a memorial service in which family and friends shared the beauty of her life.

The article on "Music for the Dying" brought up memories of the man who came to visit hospice patients, my wife among them, playing a harmonica. He was ninety-seven years old, and his music, as Jennifer Hollis writes, helped to "give the patient time at the end of life to be embraced and cared for" by loved ones.

--Rev. Kenneth W. Phifer

Ann Arbor, Michigan

My husband and I signed to make anatomical donations to the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine when we die. It is cost-wise, and good for the environment.

--Verda M. Peters

Hillsboro, Ohio

I am pleased that The Progressive devoted five pages to funerals, burials, and...