The Buddy Plan

A few months back we bought two lots on our church cemetery and picked out our gravestone.  Neither of us want a big fancy marker, so we chose a simple black stone from India.  Today we are going to the memorial company to decide on the style of lettering for our names.  Twenty years ago, this would have seemed a morbid thing to do, but now it feels okay and isn't scary at all. 

Then there's the decision about burial vs. cremation.  The thought of being locked inside a box with six feet of ground on top of me is enough to make me insane.  Being put in an oven and frying to a crisp is hardly an appealing alternative, but at least it takes away those paralyzing claustrophobic fears.  Besides that, I really don't like the idea of another generation possibly digging me up in a thousand years and putting me on display like King Tut.

Our wish is for The Buddy Plan, where the three of our ashes (fuzzy one included) will be put in one wooden box so no one has to be alone forever.  My husband is concerned that I may die first and he won't know what to do with my ashes until he goes.  I told him he can just put me and my little wooden box in the closet and I promise to be quiet.....I can see that there are more details we have to work out yet!

While we're on this subject, did you hear about the man and his ever-nagging wife who went on a vacation to Jerusalem.  While they were there, the wife passed away.  The undertaker told the husband, "You can have her shipped home for $5,000, or you can bury her here, in the Holy Land, for $150."  The man thought about it and told him he would just have her shipped home.

The undertaker asked, "Why would you spend $5,000 to ship your wife home, when it would be wonderful to be buried here and you would only pay $150?"

The man replied, "Long ago a man died here, was buried here, and three days later he rose from the dead.  I just can't take that chance."