Those of you who spend a lot of time in Florida, or who are likely to pass away while within the boundaries of our great state, if you wish to be cremated, make sure your family knows it has to be done within 24 hours, or you will by state law get embalmed anyway.
There may be some leeway there, but not sure. The exception is if your body is in the possession of the medical examiner's office (think Anna Nicole Smith).
In the early 1900's, or possibly even later, my great-grandmother played the role of Point Washington town undertaker before there was access to a funeral home down here. She would wash and dress the body for burial while my great-grandfather made the pine box. Family stories are that more than one person WOKE UP while being washed.
There are also remembrances that I really didn't care to hear about "sitting up with the dead."
As a result of being *blessed* with this knowledge, I have a fear of not really being dead and being put into a crematorium. Or buried alive. At least when you get embalmed, if you weren't dead already, you will be.
