The idea of going to a better place after departing this world appeals to many, but those planning to get a head start by being interred in Eden or Paradise will run into complications. Both are very small communities in southeastern Arizona and both have cemeteries. But getting buried there is not simply a matter of showing up in a hearse.

Cemetery in Paradise, Ariz. Photo Credit: Sam Lowe

The Eden Cemetery is reserved for those who die while living there, those who once lived there, or those who have relatives already buried there. The covenants were put into place because there were many more requests for plots than available grave sites.

In Paradise, similar laws govern who who gets to molder in the graves of Paradise Cemetery. Too few spaces, too many requests. So lots are allotted only to those who live there now or lived there once.