Odd Christmas Gifts

It seems somebody got a box of kitchen canister jars for Christmas; only problem, one of the jars in the boxed set had a sticker attached to the bottom indicating it contained the cremated remains of a person. The canister had some “dust” on it; but otherwise was empty. The gift set was purchased at J.C. Penny’s in Phoenix, Arizona and the sticker indicated it had come from the Mission Crematory in Mesa.

A few years ago my sister in law, Barbara’s husband John, died after a drawn out illness. John was cremated and his remains were placed in a shoe box until such time as a suitable permanent resting place “to be determined later” was found. John was placed on a shelf at home and stayed there undisturbed in his shoe box.

Christmas shopping came around that year and we bought several biscotti jars to give as gifts. Lucy and I casually joked that the one we planned to give Barbara could be used to keep John once the biscotti treats had been enjoyed; it being a little classier than an old shoe box. On Christmas when all the family was opening gifts I kept my odd sense of humor to myself and would never have said a thing except all of the family recognized the biscotti jar as a better final resting place and jumped on the chance to make light of poor old John sitting on a shelf in his shoe box.

Unfortunately for John, Barbara dropped and broke the ceramic biscotti jar before the transfer could be made. John continued in his shoe box until the next year when a replacement biscotti jar was presented. This time there was no doubt as to its intended use as everyone burst into laughter and simultaneously announced, “Hey, John won’t have to stay in the shoe box now.”

This year we purchased some biscotti jars to give away to business associates and ended up with one extra; “Biscotti anyone?”