Death is often a subject I find myself wander to. What do I want to leave behind? Who do I want to be when I die? How do I want to be remembered? All valid questions, yet there is one question that will tell you all you need to know about a person: What do you want done with your remains after you die? I will be the first one to admit that this is a morbid question on a morbid subject, but I can’t deny that if answered honestly, the insight to be attained is far greater than any other question alone. The answer is much more than burial or cremation, it comes down to your personal and religious beliefs, who you define yourself as, what you hold dear in life and your ego.
My brief explanation will probably leave you with more questions than I could hope to answer, so take for instance my life (and death). When I die, I want to donate my organs, not just my heart, liver and kidneys, but my eyes, skin and brain; the whole shebang. There is something directly comforting knowing that your death has allowed many to survive. If there is anything left of me I would like it to be cremated, no rotting body in a coffin for me. Killing a tree just so I can prevent my body from returning to nature for several hundred years seems like a waste. So with this in mind I want my ashes scattered in Radiant Lake, just off the Petawawa River in Algonquin Park. This is one of the most thriving ecosystems I can picture; I also have many memories of canoeing throughout this park and can think of no better place to return to the earth. With that out of the way, I would like a small, modest plaque at a cemetery near Goderich, Ontario. Such a plaque simply for my family and loved ones so that they would have a place to go if they wanted to stir up my memory. Written on my plaque I hope to have a short, thought provoking poem, one at the calibre of Thomas Gray or Robert Herrick.
By reading this you may understand me as a person better, but perhaps in the end it is all just for a little peace of mind.
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| Radiant Lake, Algonquin Park, Ontario Courtesy of Google |
Well, sounds like you have a good plan. I just want to make sure that when my time is up I've left my family with no burden; financially, emotionally, ect.
ReplyDeleteOh death, I cannot even think about that now, it is to early in life for it to bother me. But what you want to happen with your body after death allows me to understand that you are a great person ;), don't die to early!
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on the donating
ReplyDeleteHa, never thought of the coffin scenario, I'll probably use that reasoning in the future.
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