Thursday, February 20, 2020

After party plans.


 Last week another matriarch of the community I live in passed away. It will be odd not to see her out and about, at all the local events. A warm friendly woman with many many interesting stories that will now be lost with her passing. She was widowed at a young age with a business to run and a house full of kids. Now well into her nineties, she was still living at home, still driving her car and still sharp as ever. She died at home with family around her.

 I think that's the best any of us could hope for, to be smart, independent and active at that age. Life takes many sharp turns and we never know what will happen. As an example, I remember my dad and I talking to this woman's daughter when I was a teenager. I remarked to dad later how the daughter was the spitting image of her mother. On the way home, we bumped into the mother and my dad said an old local expression, "you will never be dead as long as your daughter lives". Meaning every time someone looks at the daughter, they will remember the mother. However a few years later, the daughter died of cancer while the mother went on to live another thirty plus years, life is strange like that.

 She lost a couple of her adult children and became the rock for her college aged grandchildren who still needed a little guidance. Even though she was from an older generation, she fiercely loved her gay grandchildren (yeah) equally to her straight grandchildren. She was a kind person, she used to drive around other widowed elderly women so that they wouldn't become isolated. Sad but not sad, she saw a lot of tragedy but at least she got to live her life on her terms until the end.

 Speaking of the end times, some of us were discussing plans for ourselves after we kick the bucket. Since I'm on a cemetery committee, I have become used to these topics. I'm trying to make it as easy as possible for my sister if I go first. When it comes to burial, coffin or cremation, I joke and say, "surprise me"! I guess cremation, that would be the easiest, I'm leaving it up to her, I don't care, she will be the one handling it. I definitely don't want a wake, that's gross.. people staring at my body, creepy. I don't think many people would come. I'm not religious so I say no funeral either. It's up to her, if she wants a little life celebration gathering that's fine. I'm also very offended by funeral homes preying on grieving families and soaking them with extras that cost more than they are worth. I want her to go cheap and save money. I would rather have my sister and her partner toast me on a beach somewhere tropical while enjoying themselves, than buy some tacky pictures or plastic flowers with that awful "Footprints" poem.

 What about you, have you thought about being buried in a coffin, cremated, something else or are you too frightened to think about it? Have you made any funeral plans known to a loved one so that somebody knows your wishes? Happy topic right? Seriously there is no use getting panicked over it, the topic is uncomfortable but it doesn't have to be, life is like a party, sometimes it's good, sometimes great and sometimes not that great, all parties good or bad come to an end however and we need to leave.

10 comments:

Deedles said...

For me and BH? Burn, baby, burn! Those left over, Party Hearty!

Mistress Maddie said...

Burn me and place my ashes in a Hendricks bottle and place in a room with an orgy... so i can still see the fun. Or one could just sprinkle my ashes at a lake, so there's that.

Christina said...

I'm leaving mine to medical science. Practical to the end!

anne marie in philly said...

spouse and I had wills/powers of attorney/advance directives created last year where we spelled out exactly what we want. cremation is the way to go.

Dave R said...

Cremation here, and then my ashes are going to be mixed with those of the dogs and we're going to be shot out into space where we will once again be stardust.

RJ said...

Cremation for me. A memorial service will be held in an art gallery I like. I want my ashes spread in Paris, London, P-town, and San Francisco. I'm leaving money to friend so they can travel to each location.

Bob said...

Cremation. No caskets, no plots of ground; just ash.

HuntleyBiGuy said...

Many years ago I bought plots in a cemetery got my parents and two brothers and me. My parents are buried there. I know my one brother will not be using his plot. Not sure what my other brother’s wishes are at this point. I will probably be buried next to my parents. If I have no need for the other plots I can return them to the cemetery and get my original purchase price back. Probably the only land that doesn’t appreciate to the purchaser.

Sixpence Notthewiser said...

I have! I have a will and all that.
I know that i don't want to be buried. Cremated and that's it. Hopefully I'll be useful to some plants after I'm gone.

XOXO

Sooo-this-is-me said...

I think I will be cremated so that they can't dig me up and put me in a museum later.