I want to be remembered, not mourned (at least, not for long!). I hope I have done enough good in my life to outweigh any bad. But I don't relish thinking any of my family or friends should grieve too long. If I don't grieve now, please know I don't want your hearts to be heavy then.
Pam, You and I ave never met (well, with the exceptions of maybe some previous lives) but I follow your blog because of the associations you have and have had with a couple of people I know (knew?...,know!)that had ALS. Anyway, I just had to comment and tell you that you always revive my spirit and make me smile!
ReplyDeleteYour blog about cemeteries made me laugh out loud because a dear cousin that died from ALS and I went through our "obsessive cemetery phase" shortly before he died.
This time of ours together inspired his gravestone. It is a 2' x 2' block of granite that sits 28" high. On either side are 1' x 1' blocks of granite that are 16" high (actually, think of a kids play table with two stools). All three pieces are set side-by-side in cement. The center block has a checkerboard engraved in the top. There is a permanent hook embedded in one side of the big block, and and a heavy duty mesh plastic bag holds a set of oversized checkers. As a family, we are instructed to make sure that the checkers are maintained and replaced yearly. On one side of the big block are all his vitals: name, dates, children and spouse, etc. The other side, in big bold letters, says, "STOP AND HAVE A GAME OF CHECKERS ON ME!" Then, after his death, we, as a family, had the word (literally) added in parenthesis and small script, just for all those folks that maybe would not get the double entendre of the entire situation. And we know he loves it! If I get back to his graveside in the next little while, I will send you a pic. You would love it, Now I am not a morbid person at all and I can tell you are not either, but a little dark funny humor goes a long, long way. His kids and grand-kids love it as so do mine and I can tell you, many checker games have been won, lost and fought over that board! Keep your chin up and I know I will meet you sometime, somewhere.
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ReplyDeletePam--we will mourn and many hearts will be heavy.....but mostly we will remember.
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