is it morbid to plan your own funeral?

[ReeferMac]

Ain't that the truth. Guy here at work lost his Son out of the blue his freshman year at college. I still don't mention stories about my Son. You can tell he's not the same man he used to be. I feel really sorry for him. I can't imagine. I know that sounds cliche, but.. I can't. I really can't.

- Mac

[JENnKerry]

I agree......not morbid at all. You want to make sure that everything is taken care of because you really don't know when you're going to go. I'll tell you something morbid though.
My wife is a huge Halloween freak. She goes all out every year decorating the house. A lot of kids are too scared to come up, it's great . Anyway, she gets all of her tombstones for the yard from this online vendor. I mean, these things look so much like real headstones, not the crappy ones you would find in $1 stores. I think it's like for an extra couple of bucks they will "personalize" it for you. You can have them put your name on it with a birth date and death date. I dunno, I think thats kinda creepy......cool but creepy.

[skippy2]

What's really creepy is what my Aunt did when my Uncle died.
She ordered headstones for both him and her. She had them placed at the gravsite of my Uncle. The next time she visited my Uncle's grave she saw her headstone and threw the tantrum of the year. Her daughter's husband had to hire people to remove her headstone and put it in the daughter's garage.
She also changed her first name and told everybody my Uncle ran around on her which of course isn't true.

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Originally posted by Ninapearl
who couldn't love bagpipes???

we had a piper play at my dad's funeral. actually, it was at the graveside service. my dad adored bagpipe music. nobody knew my sister and i had arranged it. one lone piper walked up over a hill, as if coming out of nowhere, playing "amazing grace". trust me, there was not a dry eye to be seen anywhere in that cemetery. it was awesome. my dad loved it, of this i am sure.

We did the same exact thing at the cemetary for my Dad's burial - Amazing Grace followed by taps. We also had the piper lead the procession in to the church for the service. It's been almost 7 years, but those two exact moments are perfectly preserved in my memory. I want the exact same thing at my funeral.

[stevedola]

I dont believe it to be morbid. Not only does it make decisions easier for the family but the message conveyed is representative of the person. I know we all like to think we know our friends and family well but sometimes we dont know them as well as we believe. What I consider to be alittle morbid and depressing is when people right their own eulogy. That freaks me out alittle...i think that crosses the line (IMO).

[Muttling]

Enough morbid crap, let's talk funeral humor..........


TRUE STORY!!!!!!!!!!



When my great uncle died (least I think the ancestory calls him a great uncle), he was the head of household on a 1,000 acre farm in Lynchburg, Virginia. This is RURAL America in the very early 1960's. What the head of the house says GOES, no questions asked.

Like all good tails, he had a death bed confession. For the previous 30 years, he'd been having an affair and he wanted his mistress to ride with family in the limosine to the cemetary then sit on the front row at grave side with the rest of his family (including his wife.)

Asside from being a farmer, he was a retired high school principle and an EXTREMELY popular man in the community. Everyone knew him and most folks went to school under him.

The entire county turned out for his funeral and there were many wondering why his African American farm hand from the 1930's was riding with the family and sitting at the grave side.


This is one of those stories that children aren't told until they're digging through old family photo's and ask "Who's that black woman beside Great Aunt Ruby?"

For the record, Ruby is the only person of her generation that I have memories of. She spoiled my generation and my dad went to great lengths to spoil her. (Dad was her in-law, but he ****ed my mom off frequently by giving her whatever she desired. Often it was a plant or a toaster, but it was occassionally a bottle of whiskey. Dad kept her giggling, even when it ****ed off his wife.) She was everything a child dreams a grandparent should be. Complaining when the least little punishment is administered and giving candy whenever the parents aren't looking. She was more appropriate with previous generations, but her ridiculous desire to please make me wish my son could have known her. I know it would frustrate me, but it would make him glow!!!! Ruby was all about spoiling's finer points. There is an ugly side to spoiling, but we didn't see her enough for it to come to light. Seeing Ruby was a special occassion that happened once or twice a year.

[BrianD]

So Ruby took her love to your uncle, and not to town like the song says?

PS Quit typing those asterisks. I would hate to have to ban you, then you would ban me on AL, and what a mess we would have.

[Muttling]

Ok, ok already....I'll stick with urinate.

[BrianD]

"Urinate"? No I'm not, I am at least a 9.

[undertaker]

I am a funeral director and I'm happy to see all the positive comments about funeral prearrangement. One thing that I have not seen mentioned is pre-payment. Paying for the funeral in advance usually guarantees the cost of services and merchandise. The funeral home will place the funds in an insurance policy or trust where it draws interest until the time of need. The interest offsets inflation so you pay todays price and not the price ten or twenty years later. The funeral home will guarantee this!

Its funny that this thread is here because every year at MACNA we all get to drinking and sooner or later somebody starts talking about funerals and asking me questions. Ok, now for a funny story.

There was a funeral for a veteran one day. The widow awaited the military honors as the minister concluded his prayer at the muddy graveside. It was a typical day for a funeral in January, it was raining and cold and the chairs had been slowly sinking into the mud. The master seargent cried out “PRESENT ARMS�,……�AIM�……….�FIRE�. Just as the guns went off, the widows seat gave into the mud, she fell backwards out of her chair, and her ten year old grandson yelled out “OH MY GOSH THEY SHOT GRANDMA!!�

[ReeferMac]

Originally posted by undertaker
“OH MY GOSH THEY SHOT GRANDMA!!�

AHAHAHHAA!!! Too funny.

- Mac

[stevedola]

"YOU BASTARDS!"