What Are Your Final Wishes?
@retardedrugrat (4791)
Canada
March 7, 2007 3:23am CST
I got to thinking about this last night and figured it would be a good idea to see what everyone thinks.
I'm a Spiritualist and so when I die, I don't want the traditional "Christian" funeral, because that does not tally with my beliefs.
I ended up writing out a list of what I want for my funeral should anything happen to me. (Totally freaked out my partner when I did it LOL)
Here is my list.
1. I want to be Cremated, not buried.
2. I want the crematorium to be filled with flowers. Roses, Carnations, Tulips in pale pastel colours.
3. I don't want anyone to wear black.
4. I don't want any depressing readings, I have a poem that I want reading and I'll share that below.
5. I don't want the traditional polished wood coffin either, I want one in a pale purple colour such as lavender or lilac.
Most importantly, I want the funeral and the following wake to be a celebration of my life as opposed to a depressing scene that people hate and only attend out of a sense of duty.
I believe when my body gives up the fight that I'm headed back over to the "other side" to review this lifetime and then prepare for my next one should I want to come back. Why would people mourn that? I'm not dead - only my body is.
The Poem.
Do not stand at my grave and weep;
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn’s rain.
When you awaken in the morning’s hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush
of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there, I did not die.
15 people like this
10 responses
@lordwarwizard (35747)
• Singapore
7 Mar 07
Can I not answer this question please? Pretty please?
I was just discussing that I am scared shitless of growing old. I really want to be immortal. Can you let me keep my fantasizing that perhaps Lestat would come and make me a vampire?
@retardedrugrat (4791)
• Canada
7 Mar 07
LOL!
You can keep fantasizing whatever you like :P
2 people like this
@sincere (178)
• India
7 Mar 07
same is with me,i never want to be old (above 50) in my life,becouse im enjoying my youthness very well.whenever i think myself in future i always wish to be young as im right now.I know one fact also that this is not possible ,not in this world.
@retardedrugrat (4791)
• Canada
7 Mar 07
Yeah being young is always good. I'd like to stay young forever, but its not going to happen LOL.
Live life as if you were still young, because we never know when its going to end.
2 people like this
@caramello (4377)
• Australia
7 Mar 07
My final wishes and hopefully they will be carried out....
I want a private cremation with my husband and children only.
I want the song "Celebration" by Dragon to be played.
And my ashes to be sprinkled out in the countryside.
Very simple!
@retardedrugrat (4791)
• Canada
7 Mar 07
Ooooh, I forgot to mention about where I want my ashes spreading!! Darn!!
I like the idea of something simple like that, it's intimate and private without having relatives there that you didn't even know.
2 people like this
@kgwat70 (13388)
• United States
7 Mar 07
I too would like to be cremated when I die as I think being buried in the ground is nasty and would have roaches crawling all over me. It is also cheaper from what I hear and would not want to put a financial burden on the rest of my family. I haven't decided as of yet where my ashes would go. I do like a lot of the thoughts you mentioned about when you die. I also enjoyed the poem that you included. It was very beautiful.
2 people like this
@retardedrugrat (4791)
• Canada
7 Mar 07
thank you very much. The poem describes grief and explains exactly what my beliefs are about the afterlife.
I felt the need to write my wishes out and get them known, both to my partner and my parents, just in case.
people go through life thinking "Oh, it'll never happen to me." But life has already proved otherwise. It just makes perfect sense to me to make sure my wishes are known. It then makes it much easier on the surviving members of the family to organize the ceremony.
1 person likes this
@gabs8513 (48686)
• United Kingdom
7 Mar 07
To be hinest I have thought of it but never write it down as I try not to think of it at all. It scares me that I might not be here one Day. It scares me that I will loose more loved ones. I don't know what happens, I just know I will be gone and never see anyone or anything again.
@retardedrugrat (4791)
• Canada
7 Mar 07
I prefer not to think of it in those terms.
I hold onto my belief that there is an afterlife and that we reunite with those who passed over before us.
It's interesting to see how many different beliefs there are today. So many people in my family think that once our bodies give up the fight that thats it. Just blackness.
I can't believe that. There has to be more to life than that. We're all made of matter and matter can't be destroyed. So it makes sense that our soul would have to go somewhere.
1 person likes this
@bestisyettocome (1531)
• United States
7 Mar 07
I have already given this subject some thought. I am to be cremated. My son doesn't want it that way, unless he gets all the ashes for "his" mantle, haha. My husband agrees that since this is my wish, it will be. I want the song to be played "Prop me up beside the jukebox, if I die." Some of my ashes will be sprinkled from the tallest hill of the Millenium Force at Cedar Point, at Lake Erie. Did you write the poem? It is absolutely how I feel, too. If it okay with you, can I use it? It sounds like our ideas of the "great beyond" are very similar.
@retardedrugrat (4791)
• Canada
7 Mar 07
I didn't actually write the poem, it's one of those anonymous ones where nobody seems to know where it came from.
Of course you are more than welcome to use it, and it's nice to see that our ideas of the afterlife are very similar.
I want my ashes spreading at the peak of a mountain here in Vancouver. They are in my very heart and I would rather be in no other place.
Thank you for your response.
1 person likes this
@monkeywriter (2004)
• United States
8 Mar 07
Forgive me I cant think of much right now, sick and tired just 2 things I can think of:
1.I think I'd like to be buried but if they cant afford it please cremate me and send my ashes over the ocean cause its a great place I love to be at.
2. Know I am now in a better place, waiting in heaven for all of you
Also please bury or burn my journals they are too personal, and if my dog is still alive please take care of her currently she is like my kid and I love her dearly!
1 person likes this
@retardedrugrat (4791)
• Canada
8 Mar 07
I love the idea that you know where you want your ashes scattering. I want mine scattered at the peak of one of my favorite mountains here in Vancouver. The mountains are in my very heart and I would like to be returned there for one final time.
Making provisions for pets is also a very good idea if there is no spouse or partner to upkeep the pet should anything happen to us.
Thanks for responding.
@horsesrule (1957)
• United States
8 Mar 07
So far I know that I want to be cremated since its the cheapest. After that, I have no real preferences so I will need to think about that and plan that out. I believe that I do want a nice piece written for the obituary section of the local newspaper and I think that I will write it myself. LOL, I am serious though because who will know what to write about me as well as I know about me? I am not able to bring up this subject around my family, they freak-out really bad and think that I am going to die right away! So I have to make my plans and NOT share them with my family until after I am gone I guess.
1 person likes this
@maanvar (48)
• India
8 Mar 07
There is only one wish. As long as I am alive, I should beable to enjoy his creations. All over there is only his creations - all good and all bad - low light and high light. Low light is called dusk, (the evil) and the other as goodness. Let me enjoy thy kingdom and be happy always.
@RachelleDD (823)
• Canada
10 Mar 07
Beautiful poem, I have given some thought to what i want to happen when i die, Like you I dont want a crying party over my coffin when it happens.
If its a car crash or an accident of some kind i want my organs to be donated if at all possible. I would like to be cremated like you as well, and surrounded by flowers because I absolutely love them.
Just want my family and friends there, people that mattered to me, and people that I mattered to.
I am sure that my family already knows my wishes for the most part. I haven't laid out any concrete directions, but the basics are covered.
@dyupe_moe (225)
• Philippines
8 Mar 07
I haven't thought about whether I'll be cremated or buried six feet under. But I already thought about two things:
1. If I were to be buried, I'd like to have a mauseoleum (wow, big stuff) with a bust of my head smiling. I don't want my family members to be sad when I go over, but I want them to remember me happily.
2. In relation to number 1, I want the song "Hide" by Creed to be played when I'm being taken to my final resting place. Something in the song means much to me.
@retardedrugrat (4791)
• Canada
8 Mar 07
I love the way you described wanting a mausoleum with a big bust of your head smiling LOL. Nothing like going out with a bang!
I thought long and hard about music too. I finally settled on "Forever Young" by Alphaville. It means a lot to me and describes the way I'll always be young at heart no matter how old I may get before I die.
Thank you for your response.
