Planning

I have always said that one of the kindest things my mother ever did for me was preplanning her funeral. She had done everything from picking the music and flowers to what she wanted to wear. My mother had even written her own obituary so all the names and dates were correct and since it was written several years prior to her death she had plenty of time to make sure it was worded just right and no one had been left out. My cousins and I have spent the entire day on the phone trying to remember middle names, who was born where and you know darned well we have left someone out because it has been put together so quickly. Here is the real kicker, we know there is a burial plot next to grandma for Aunt June but none of us remember for sure where grandma is buried. Grandma is from a very small town in a very rural area with a TON of small churches and cemeteries. You just try to get information on a weekend and let me know how that works out for ya! We have done online searches and made phone calls but we can't get any answers until Monday because as one lady told us, "This ain't no city, we don't believe in the Internet and she ain't gonna be buried until Wednesday anyway so I ain't going out to no cemetery office until Monday..gas is mighty dear ya know. So what's yer hurry?" Hard as this may be to believe, she actually said it very nicely and she does have a valid point. So...guess we will get our answer on Monday. I asked the funeral director about putting the obituary in the area newspaper and he told me that the paper is weekly and would publish two days after her service so they would only require a death notice. However, that's not a problem because the funeral home has their own way of letting the locals know that someone (who obviously did not have the foresight to check the local paper distribution schedule) has passed away. The porch light at the funeral home is turned on and a hand written note is placed on the door with the deceased name along with the date and time of service. If the deceased is noteworthy, then the information also goes on the IGA marque. Gosh...can't wait to get to town and see if we made the marque!