Red's Wrap
Happiness. It's relative.
My Lovely Funeral
I woke up in the middle of the night with a complete plan for my own funeral.
It’s odd to have that degree of clarity and not consider it so fleeting that I should switch on the light and write it down on some random scrap of paper on the night table, like the back cover of The Girl on the Train.
But I knew I wouldn’t forget. No chance.
Here’s what I want:
I want the gathering to be in a place with a view of Lake Michigan. I want it to be in the morning. In a minute, you’ll see why.
I want there to be donuts. I want the donuts to be plain, cinnamon sugar, and powdered sugar. No branching out into chocolate donuts or Danish, no cinnamon rolls or jelly-filled. Just those three kinds. The donuts need to be fresh. Dunkin’ Donuts would be great. But not in boxes with that aggravating paper. The donuts need to be arranged on big paper doilies on silver trays and segregated by type.
Then I want there to be coffee. Very hot and pretty strong coffee. Not in those tricky little cardboard boxes either. I want the coffee to be in silver urns, fancy silver urns with the fancy handles and the spigot that could fill in as a pendant necklace for an extremely showy person. I want there to be Half and Half in a silver pitcher and sugar in a bowl. Silver spoons for stirring and cloth napkins, white ones. No tea and no decaf. Sorry, I am not all things to all people.
The cups need to be mugs. Red mugs. And good size, no little teacups for me. A hot cup of coffee in a red mug is an image worth saving. People could take their cups home. Have more coffee or plant peas in them. Up to them.
Then I want people to sit around or stand around and drink their coffee and eat their donut. Dunking the donuts would be a nice touch like dipping a finger into the Passover wine for each of the ten plagues. The donut dunking could be symbolic of something somebody could make up, like my single fault (if there is just one dunking) or my many fine qualities (if there is to be multiple dunkings).
Then anyone who feels like it can say something and everyone else has to listen. Speakers need to speak clearly, enunciate, not stand with the sun behind them and their face in the shadows and, though they may have to put their coffee and donut down, they should try to talk with their hands as much as possible. I will no longer need accommodations for hearing loss but somebody else in the room might. I will be in a small box on a table with my own red mug of very hot coffee with a lot of Half and Half, with a plain donut on a white napkin.
After an hour of this, standing around with people randomly deciding to speak up, someone in a position of authority needs to call an end to festivities. Tell people it’s time to go for a walk or get to work. Invite them to pick up a donut for the road and remind them to take their mugs. Shoo them out the door and do whatever comes next for me in the little box.
That’s what I want. It sounds like fun, doesn’t it? I would want to go to that funeral.
________________
Photo by Dave Michuda on Unsplash
16 Comments on “My Lovely Funeral”
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Snow Door | wisconsinacademy.org
Listen to Jan read her essay “Billy” presented on WUWM’s Lake Effect
Jan’s essay “At the Breakfast Bar” on WUWM Lake Effect
Jan’s essay “The Parish Hall,” on WUWM Lake Effect
“Fury Cannot Touch Me,” Modern Love, NYT, 9/29/11
Personally, I want alot of color–so the red mug is appealing, but I also want more frivolity–music, puppets, dancing, a potluck with lots of different cultural dishes–and definitely stories, wild ones, funny ones, and…hmmm. maybe take some of my ashes to take to beautiful places, campfires, rivers and wonderful Lake Michigan, my favorite body of water. And if there could be some trees planted, and some other good thing for the earth and people to leave behind. I’d like that!
Hope those are cake donuts and not glazed/raised ones.
No glazed!
Good girl.
I will be there. And now I know what your favorite donuts are which is a very important piece of info. I admire your clarity-as a choir member I only have a list of potential music along with a list of “not even over my dead body will that piece be sung!”
Sounds great! If you want to have or have to have something grander for the funeral, the twist on this is to do that in the morning and then afterwards have everyone for lunch at the back room of your favorite restaurant. In the same way, you could have the conversation about the wonderfulness of the deceased. With the lunch, the red mugs of strong coffee would also work well. Or, even though it’s only mid-day, you also could feel OK with having a beer, maybe even two. For me, after the death of your loved and then all the funeral stuff, now that’s over, and it’s nice to mark that moment and toast them with a cold beer–or a hot coffee.
Nice. I might just steal this idea.
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Oh, it does sound fun, Jan. I’d be there in a minute, and I’d take my red mug home to my collection of red mugs from which I carefully choose each morning for my coffee, strong and hot. During the funeral, If it felt right, and I think it would, I’d tell people what a marvelous, multi-faceted, and prolific writer you were. Then I’d have another doughnut.
Thank you Auntie B. 🙂 You would be an honored guest.
I have owned a lot of mugs – but never a red one. I love planning things, too – one of these days I want to write my obit.,
I will bring my swagger and fancy shoes. I will also speak up about that one time… Were you Thelma or Louise?
Perfect! I might have to copy your idea.
Oh, how I love this. Especially the red coffee mugs. And the milling about and listening bits. Makes me rethink what I might want:).
I did not know you were Irish! The Irish love to plan funerals! I have already given assignments to many of relatives. One is in charge of my passport, I want to take it along in case. One is charge to make sure I have the Nightengale nurses reading and all nurses who attend get a rose from me, one person is charge of canceling all social media, I have a friend who passed away and linkedin still sends stuff.