penandpatience

WRITERS WORDS: “Goodbye always makes my throat hurt.”  “We only live once Snoopy.” –Charlie Brown

“Wrong! We only die once we live every day.” –Snoopy

JUNE 2021 MONTHLY MUSING

WHY NOT PRE-PLAN YOUR FINAL GOODBYE!

Goodbye!  A goodbye can be many gestures: a wave, a handshake, a big hug, a salute, a big smiley nod or even a tear wiped away in elation or grief. A goodbye in any language (Adios, Arrivederci, Sayonara, Auf Wiedersehen, Au Revoir, Tot Ziens, etc.) can be a temporary or permanent separation from loved ones and others we admire for various reasons. Goodbye departures on a routine basis (i.e., from co-workers at the end of a work day) or other events are pretty much commonplace.  However, a final goodbye is just that – Final! Kaput! No second chances to right wrongs, finish goals and like famous crooner, Frank Sinatra, sang so long ago, “I did it My Way.”

Two of my Musings posted in earlier years, “Do It Yourself Obituary and Do It Yourself Funeral” were widely read by many readers.  Birth and death: We are glad to have been born and live life but not so eager to face a personal demise.  Both are painful and expensive😊

Unfortunately, our forefathers and folks living in earlier centuries did not have the opportunities we have today. I also recall John F. Kennedy, Jr’s fateful airplane death (1999). “His ashes were sent out into the vast, incurious sea in a midday service as brief and private as his father’s was long and public. In keeping with the families’ wishes, there was no honor guard to salute aboard the Briscoe in Woods Hole, Mass.  Two Navy Chaplains and a Catholic priest performed the brief, simple ceremony without a Mass.” (excerpt from NY Daily News) I muse…. Would John and his wife, Carolyn, have made these same arrangements?

Planning Ahead. Tina Turner sings, “What does love have to do with it?” Folks in pre-golden and senior years may say, “What does age have to do with it?”  Again, and you’ve heard me say this before, one of my favorite sayings is that “Life happens while you’re making other plans.”

How do we plan ahead for the unknown….?

Do you have a spouse, children?

Do you have a Will?

Do you have legal counsel available to assess your individual situation including estate planning?

Do you have physical assets, favorite artifacts? Will Aunt Mary and Uncle John bicker over the Grand Piano?

Have you secured or inherited from family a reserved burial spot in the family plot?

Do you prefer cremation? Would you desire to have your ashes scattered in the sea, buried, or will you request the urn be located on top of the fridge with Bozo’s, your faithful, beloved Black Lab.

Do you desire a celebration of your life with photos, music, poetry and special prayers?

Do you desire a traditional funeral in accordance with your beliefs?

Etc. Etc. Etc.   So much to think about and plan.

Today, thanks to living in an advanced technological age, there are many options and sites that can assist you in pre-planning a personal and final goodbye should you choose. (Please feel free to reread my earlier posts as mentioned above)

A few websites:

http://www.aarp.org

http://www.funeralwise.com

http://www.empathy.com

http://www.funerals.com

And, A Very Happy Father’s Day to all dads and granddads!