I would suppose that various religions and family traditions differ widely  
across the country. My family (when practical) had open coffins before burial,  
but no one ever touched the deceased. Practically speaking, you would be  
touching wax and makeup and not the skin anyway. Some folks put flowers in the  
coffins. I recall stories of the memorial for Hal Eberhart, a California  
archaeologist, in which his wife put his beloved trowel, and students and  friends 
dropped mementos (including a bag of pot) before they closed the coffin  and 
buried him. Heaven only knows what some future archaeologist would make of  
that coffin?
 
Ron May
Legacy 106, Inc.



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