...Dierdre, you sure are impetuous. Your poor Father!

I wish that when the time comes your dream will come true, to rest under the wattle tree on the nature strip in front of your house.

Sadly, as it currently stands, the multitude of government regulations would not allow you that last wish.

A lovely story, thank you. Yet another reason why the human population has to stop growing...

population has to stop growing...
popnperish,
if Rudd gets in again we won't be able to afford to die.

This is more than a nice story - it is key data on the major difference between 'traditional' and 'modern' societies. In the former, the family is a political power centre. In the latter the family's significance has been usurped by the state. If human happiness, well-being, and psychic maturity are deemed the criteria, it seems to me that traditional societies rate much better than modern societies. To recapture some of the strength, creativity and vitality of traditional societies the first step has to be to void all the state-sponsored legislation that has destroyed the POLITICAL strength of families. Ancestors ARE important to creating the family through time. Compare the cultural practices you have described with the state's ruling on cemeteries, that you may lie in your grave for 25 years, before being tossed on the rubbish heap. Cremation ashes are of course even easier to dispose of. My understanding is that cemeteries have a similar emotional salience in Poland. The cemetery that enabled me to understand the deeper significance of the difference between these two polar opposed culture norms is the beautiful 'village' of Pere La Chaise (sp?) in Paris.