Taking Advantage of the Dead and Mourning? — Page 3

I agree with Erika. Life gets better once you pass the 30 mark!

WW, I am so with you! Actually, Grandma Ida doesn't really care about a party. But she would rather see whatever money she has left handed down to her great-grandchildren and donated to do some good -- rather than spent on her burial.

Hmmm. Maybe the way to go is to throw yourself a huge party and bill it as your "funeral." You can structure it any way YOU want. People can get up and say whatever they want about you, etc. The best part though is that YOU could be there! Why wait until you're dead???

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Jane does not have one foot in the grave. No matter how old she may get, she will always be "young" because she has a very youthful spirit, a great sense of humor and tremendous strength of will. But, Jane, you may have to get your own membership to Costco one of these days...just in case!

Calvin, any man who at age 75 gets a woman 25 to marry him and bear him two children deserves to live as long as he wants.

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Why are you youngsters so concerned so soon?

Not to continue the morbidity that has already pervaded this thread, but some of us youngsters have more control over what happens to us after we die than if something happens to us while alive. I've had the idea for my funeral in my head for over a decade. It's one of those things that comes into your head and if you tell enough people you can be pretty sure that something pretty close to that will come about if you actually die because someone somewhere will be worried about "honoring your memory."

However, I currently have no health insurance and have no Living Will. If I were to be mortally wounded tomorrow and had to live on life support, I'd have no legal recourse whatsoever. I might want to "die with dignity", but with no legal documentation I could easily be forced to live on life support for years, and I'd have no say in the matter.

In a perfect world everyone would have ready access to the resources needed to make their intentions clear, but not everyone lives in that world yet. In the meantime, we fantasize about silly (yet morbid) things such as this.

It's late and I'm tired, but I hope I made the point I was trying for.
Again ETF - verb/tense agreement.

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Updated On: 10/21/06 at 02:47 AM

Not to mention that my dad turns 80 next year and my mother turns 70 (I was a late, late baby for them). I know that they are not going to be around forever, and after that point...who takes care of these matters should anything happen to me? (My sisters? HA!)

Actually, I've really never thought about that until now. Yikes.

SM2 and everybody: I do not think talking about or planning for death is morbid. It's actually very empowering and life-affirming!

Calvin, you really should write it out. If my siblings took control of my funeral arrangements--

• my one brother would have a special envoy sent from the vatican to exorcise the evil that has built up due to decades of rejecting and denouncing my Catholic upbringing

• my other brother would freak out over the fact that I died and probably let the first person he bumped into handle the details so he wouldn't have to

• my sister would meditate over the body for a week while it decomposed and attracted flies.

My plan: cremation, scattered ashes and a celebration of life, preferably with a lot of music and bottles of Taittinger Comte de Champagne. No other beverage will be served. That's my only demand. (Coincidentally, this champagne is identified by the Comité Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne as "a champagne of great charm close to Spirit.")

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WW-just write yourself a living will and a regular will. That way you'll be sure that everything will go according to your plans-easy as that!

Miss P is right-I joke around a lot about being so old-I'm not THAT old, and yes, I do think and act young. The teens and 20's I work with consider me one of them-they don't notice an age difference. Hmmm, maybe I should worry!

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Ms. P, I have no issue at all talking about death. I don't know if it has anything to do with being almost there once, but ever since then I don't see it as this thing to be afraid of. The same way I am not afraid of getting old.

My sister has my power of attorney... I know she will make the right decisions. But my best friend has my secondary power of attorney, to keep her in check!

I've told everyone I know that black is not allowed when I die, and if anyone wears it I will haunt them (the only ones excused are those who already wear black all the time).

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DD, my mom told me if there was ONE gladiolus in any of the floral arrangements at her funeral, SHE would haunt ME. I notified the florist in town first so if anyone ordered flowers from them, they would know "No gladiola!"

Then at the funeral home, I went through EVERY arrangement as promised.

Also, DD, I didn't know you were so close to death. I'm sorry to hear that you experienced something so serious, but perhaps that is why you are such a joyful and enlightened peson!

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Well. SM2, you and I may like them, but my mom didn't. I tried to honor her request.

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Let me rephrase the question: Why did your mother despise gladioli?

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Can I bring gladioli? -la? -luses?

Which is correct, anyway?

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Updated On: 10/22/06 at 01:43 AM

I just found out that my husband's maternal grandmother was buried with a Detroit Tigers baseball cap! That family...such trendsetters!

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