And When I Die...

My mom died a week ago and today I'm headed down to Florida to spend some time with my family.  Despite being in poor health for close to 20 years, my mom always insisted on having things "just right".   Whether it was designing tasteful decor for her home, planning the perfect party, or using correct syntax in her speech, mom wanted things done properly.  That included dying on her own terms.  So much so, she was supremely pissed when Dad called 911 instead of letting her expire last month.  She even threatened to call a divorce lawyer over that one.  Classic Mom... snarky to the end! 

In the last few weeks, Mom was ready to go and just wanted to get on with it, dying only three days after being moved to hospice care.  She wanted to be cremated right away and insisted that we dispense with the usual funeral or memorial service.  After all, Mom hated it when people got all teary at funerals... she thought it was undignified.  And I'm sure she didn't want anyone staring at her when she was dead and obviously not looking her best. 

So we're not having any sort of ceremony.  Instead, we'll head to the beach tomorrow for a picnic to celebrate what would have been my parent's 60th wedding anniversary.  But we'll use real dishes and silverware... Mom wouldn't want us using tacky paper plates and plastic forks on her anniversary.  I think we should bring her box of ashes with us, but we'd have to find her a tasteful urn first... the cardboard box that cremains come in just isn't going to cut it!  It will probably be bittersweet, but it will also be a happy time, with lots of memories and lots of laughter.  After all, what else would you expect from the Cat Lady and her family?

I figure Mom's out there somewhere enjoying her grand adventure.  After all, she did love to travel.  So I'm dispensing with the traditional dirge and carrying on with life while having Laura Nyro sing Mom out in style....