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Friday, April 14, 2006

Are your loved ones pre-planning?

Most days I don't think about death. Do you?
My parents on the other hand have done all their funeral pre-planning. I got a picture in my inbox of the what their final resting place will be. It was like a notice friends give you about what their next address will be. I am not sure what to think. It's not something I want to think about. Nice of them to be so organized about it though. It gives me a chance to look at it in a non emotional state. It might help when the time comes.
We are slightly more open about talking about death in my family than we are about talking about say...sex. I wonder what my brothers and sisters think about the periodic reminders as my Dad notifies them of the final arrangements. Maybe we'll talk about it when we get together for Mothers day. Maybe we won't. All we can do for sure is appreciate them in the moment and enjoy the family reunion.

be in the moment
Barbara

Interesting topic for Good Friday...

7 comments:

Barbara Bruederlin said...

I think that it very considerate of your parents to do all the planning well in advance. It's probably one of the best gifts they can give their kids.

My parents never discussed sex either. I think our generation has a completely difference relationship with our kids. And while we give up some dominance, it is well worth it for the closeness you gain.

Barbara said...

but does our generation discuss death with 'our' kids?

I have not pre-planned anything practicle like a funeral, because I plan to be eaten by sharks while surfing, if they are still around in 43 years. If there are no sharks I will float out on an iceburg. If there are no more iceburgs... I am out of plans.

Barbara said...

Ellee you are very good with plots and planning. That's why your such a good writer.
When my boyfriends parents bought the plot for Graham they reserved it so both thier remains would go there as well. They now have a plaque with Graham's name and birth/death date and thier own names with birth date but death date left blank. His mother told me it's weird to see your own name on a plaque like that. I can imagine.

Anonymous said...

hi barbara!
sorry its taken me a while to come visit you..i plan on stopping by more regularly.

as for my feet i promise you i've got 2! lol
and my pics of my shoes..well the thing with the online catalogue is that it sometimes displays the pic of one shoe--no clue--but anyways its so much easier to use those pics than to snap my own.

anyways take care.
have a good weekend.

Barbara said...

lol Reese. Ok I believe you have two feet. Thanks for stopping in.

Allison said...

I'd have to agree that I think its considerate of your parents to plan well ahead. It works the same in my family; death has always been an openly discussed issue, mainly because my family is older, and I had to deal with it sooner. But like you said, its better to deal with it now, outside of the emotional state.

And I think I fall into the "younger generation" if that helps in the "does our generation discuss death with our kids?" debate :)

dykotomy said...

The closest my dad and I got to discussing death concluded with an understanding that both of us do not want to be plugged in for any length of time. We also acknowledged how difficult the decision to pull the plug would be should the situation occur.