On Saturday, October 17, Jasper Howard, a cornerback for the UConn football team, spearheaded the Huskies’ defense in a 38-25 win over Louisville at Rentschler Field. Nine hours after his career-high 11 tackles and a forced fumble that halted a Louisville comeback, Howard was dead, yet another victim in our nation’s continuing saga of on-campus violence.

Lesser tragedies have decimated football teams before. Indeed, UConn’s next three games—at West Virginia, Rutgers, at Cincinnati—were heartbreaking last-minute losses.

Something happened after that—a season that could have gone sour turned into a season of heroes. It started with an overtime victory at Notre Dame, which UConn coach Randy Edsall called the biggest win in the history of the university’s football program.

In its last two games, UConn demolished Syracuse and—in drama befitting such a season—defeated South Florida on a last-second field goal. The Huskies will try to win one more for Jasper Howard when they play South Carolina at the Jan. 2 Papajohns.com Bowl in Birmingham, Alabama.

What are heroes made of?

The cells and tissue in the human body renew themselves so quickly that we have new skin every 30 days. Even more surprisingly, we have a new skeleton every six months. Change isn’t just inevitable—it’s always happening, day by day, hour by hour.

When we understand that nothing stays the same—not even our skeleton—we’re better prepared to cope with potentially devastating changes, such as the loss of a loved one.

When a change in your life seems more than you can manage, or when change is terrifying, take heart: Even heroes feel afraid. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is braver five minutes longer.”

What are heroes made of? They’re made of the same cells and tissue as the rest of us. This New Year we’re all Huskies: Be a hero today to someone who needs you.

It only takes five minutes.

Share your story

Are you dealing with the loss of a loved one this New Year? Share your grief with us so that we might also share in your healing.

Cremation is the thermal process wherein the help of heat, flames, and vaporization is taken to reduce the body into its basic elements like bone fragments. Crematories provide the necessary arrangements required for the cremation. A cremator is basically a furnace in which very high temperatures are generated to disintegrate the corpse.

The choice ultimately lies with an individual. To be buried or cremated is based on one’s view on religion, culture or just for personal reasons. But a few known reasons are highlighted below for both options:

Why people choose cremation:

1) Cremation seems to be a very personal approach. Most people do not like the idea of slow decomposition in case of burial. Cremation ensures rapid disposal of remains.

2) People tend to find cremation attractive as it eases the funeral processes. They view burial as an unnecessary and time-consuming procedure, where cremation simplifies matters.

3) Cremation also tends to be cheaper than the traditional burial process if direct and simple cremation is carried out rather than obtaining multiple crematory services and going for fancy urns.

4) People also prefer cremation as it is environment-friendly in the context of space. Traditional burial takes up a lot of cemetery space. Countries like Japan and Europe have started to run out of cemetery capacity as the numbers of caskets are increasing day by day.

5) The remains of the cremation offer various options as to the method of disposal. The remains can be given to the family members, entombed in a mausoleum, buried in the ground or scattered in the sea or any place preferred by the family.

6) Traditions and customs also determine the decision making of the method of funeral.

7) Many people hold this belief that a cremated person readily becomes an element of Mother Nature while a buried body takes years to decompose.

Some people also debate over the leaps made by scientific technology. They want to safeguard their DNA to prevent anyone from obtruding their privacy after death and making their clones.

Why people choose burial:

1) The idea of burning in a furnace, or otherwise, is repulsive to some people even after death.

2) Many religions like Islam, Judaism and Zoroastrianism prohibit cremation as this way is considered insulting and disgraceful to a dead body.

3) Most people do not want their loved ones to become unreachable. They prefer to have them buried as they can visit their dead at any time and pay due respect.

4) Burial dignifies and honors the body as a permanent memorial can be erected to keep the memory of the person everlasting.

5) Burial provides a safe resting place to a body through eternities. This thought gives solace to the loved one’s family.

No matter what method is chosen, death is after all, a grim and ruthless certainty and a merciless reality which everyone has to face. Whatever it comes down to it is better to be prepared and make decisions beforehand. Family members should be informed of the person’s preference between cremation and burial, so that wishes of the dead can be complied with.