What do YOU want on your tombstone?
My heart goes out to the thousands of people who have lost their houses in the California fires and ones who have lost their lives. It’s truly tragic and devastating, to say the least. My prayer goes out to you for your safety and hope you will be able to rebuild soon.
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I went to a wake for a mother of a friend the other night. She was 75 years young, passed away from a heart attack. It was very sudden and unexpected since she got a clean bill of health a week before from the doctor. That left the family very puzzled and shocked as it did for me when I heard of the news. We saw her this past August and she was full of life, smiling and having a good old time.
It’s been tough on the youngest son since he was very close to her. He and his siblings lost their Dad 4 years ago around this time too, a few weeks before Thanksgiving. I can’t fathom how difficult this time of year must be for them.
The whole night got me thinking about my own mortality. When I’m being summoned to the “other side”, I hope that I’ll die in my sleep, something peaceful and painless, not confined to a bed or (worse) being a “vegetable”…I’d hate to be a burden to my children or anyone. As for the funeral, donate my body to science, cremate me when they’re done, spread my ashes in the ocean and we’ll call it a day. So there won’t be any tombstone, save the family the expenses.
The only thing that I’m praying will never happen is for us to outlive our children. THAT is my worse fear. If you’re a parent, I’m sure you’d agree with me on that point.
Have you prepared your wills yet? We finally got it done recently. The whole process was so morbid, going through the list to see who’s capable and willing to step in and take care of your four kids after you die. I know our kids will be in good hands with my sister and her family. If not, I’m coming back to haunt her…just kidding!
I just finished reading “The Last Lecture” by Randy Pausch, what a phenomenon he was and such a fulfilling life he lead, even though it was shortened tragically. There are many valuable lessons in the book but the one that stuck with me is (I’m paraphrasing) “don’t be afraid to ask, the worse thing you’ll get is a NO”. If you haven’t read it, I recommend it highly.
Now it’s my turn to ask you: “what do YOU want on your tombstone? Or would you prefer to be cremated?”
My heart goes out to the thousands of people who have lost their houses in the California fires and ones who have lost their lives. It’s truly tragic and devastating, to say the least. My prayer goes out to you for your safety and hope you will be able to rebuild soon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I went to a wake for a mother of a friend the other night. She was 75 years young, passed away from a heart attack. It was very sudden and unexpected since she got a clean bill of health a week before from the doctor. That left the family very puzzled and shocked as it did for me when I heard of the news. We saw her this past August and she was full of life, smiling and having a good old time.
It’s been tough on the youngest son since he was very close to her. He and his siblings lost their Dad 4 years ago around this time too, a few weeks before Thanksgiving. I can’t fathom how difficult this time of year must be for them.
The whole night got me thinking about my own mortality. When I’m being summoned to the “other side”, I hope that I’ll die in my sleep, something peaceful and painless, not confined to a bed or (worse) being a “vegetable”…I’d hate to be a burden to my children or anyone. As for the funeral, donate my body to science, cremate me when they’re done, spread my ashes in the ocean and we’ll call it a day. So there won’t be any tombstone, save the family the expenses.
The only thing that I’m praying will never happen is for us to outlive our children. THAT is my worse fear. If you’re a parent, I’m sure you’d agree with me on that point.
Have you prepared your wills yet? We finally got it done recently. The whole process was so morbid, going through the list to see who’s capable and willing to step in and take care of your four kids after you die. I know our kids will be in good hands with my sister and her family. If not, I’m coming back to haunt her…just kidding!
I just finished reading “The Last Lecture” by Randy Pausch, what a phenomenon he was and such a fulfilling life he lead, even though it was shortened tragically. There are many valuable lessons in the book but the one that stuck with me is (I’m paraphrasing) “don’t be afraid to ask, the worse thing you’ll get is a NO”. If you haven’t read it, I recommend it highly.
Now it’s my turn to ask you: “what do YOU want on your tombstone? Or would you prefer to be cremated?”
You know, I think I’ll leave the decision about tombstone or not to those left behind. They will be the ones who need it (or not). I think the tombstone is for those who grieve not for the person who is gone.
We did our wills a few years ago and I need to check how they’re worded (if it divides our assets between our children equally or if it names them and says 50 percent each) so that if we need to change them to add Ms. D then we get that done.
That reminds me of a post I was supposed to write for a blog! Doh!
Haven’t thought about a tombstone, but wanted to add that we just had our wills done too. It was very weird, talking about being deceased and being responsible adult-like people.