Funeral

    It’s really hard to plan out every aspect of your funeral when you’re 24 years old. Having to think about all the things you want and don’t want to take place is tough. It really makes you put things in your life into perspective and helps you realize what really matters to you.

Living Will and Last Wishes:

    A living will is a legal document that states your wishes regarding your future health care if you become incapable of doing so. The document is used by those who want to express their feelings about the withholding or the withdrawal of life sustaining treatment that prolongs the process of dying. A living will states that you either want medical treatment to keep you alive or you do not. I would choose to decline medical treatment that will keep me alive if I am unconscious and there is no reasonable prospect that I will ever be conscious again or I am near death from an illness or injury with no reasonable prospect of recovery. I personally would rather die than be hooked up to monitors and tubes if there wasn’t a definite answer that I would recover and be able to function.

    A living will also states two options which are as follows. I wish to live out my last days at home rather than in a hospital, if it does not jeopardize the chance of my recovery to a meaningful and conscious life and does not impose an undue on my family. I would choose this option when filling out my living will. I would much rather be in the comfort of my own home rather than in a dreary, sad hospital when I'm about to pass on. The other option stated on the living will which I would also choose is if upon death, any of my tissues or organs would be of value for transplantation, therapy, advancement of medical or dental science, research, or other medical, educational or scientific purpose, I freely give permission to the donation of such tissue or organs. I feel like if I’m dead and don’t need this organs and or tissues anymore someone that could benefit from them should have them.

    I went online and looked at the Five Wishes document. I found it to be very comforting. I had never heard of it before. I Chose my boyfriend who I know I will marry to be my Health Care Agent, which was wish number 1. The second wish is the kind of medical treatment that I want and don’t want. I want to have life support so my loved ones can come say goodbye. I do not want life support if I have severe and permanent brain damage and was not expected to recover, if it has been started I want it stopped. If I am in a coma and not expected to wake up or recover I do not want life support. The third wish is how comfortable I want to be. I do not want to be in pain. I want my doctor to give me enough medicine to relieve my pain, even if that means I will be drowsy or sleep more than I would otherwise. If I show signs of depression, nausea, shortness of breath, or hallucinations, I want my care givers to do whatever they can to help me. I want my lips and mouth kept moist to stop dryness. I wish to have religious readings and well loved poems read around when I am near death. I wish to know about options for Hospice care to provide medical, emotional, and spiritual care for me and my loved ones. Wish number four is how I want people to treat me. I want to have people with me when possible. I 

want someone to be with me when it seems that death ma come at anytime. i wish to have others by my side praying for me when possible. I wish to have the members of my faith community told that I am sick and asked to pray for me. I wish to be cared for with kindness and cheerfulness and not sadness. I wish to have pictures of my loved one’s in my room and near my bed. I want to die in my home, if that can be done. Finally wish number five is what I want my loved ones to know. I wish to have my family and friends know that I love them. I wish to be forgiven for the times I have hurt my family, friends, and others. I wish to have my family and friends and others know that I forgive them for when they may have hurt me in life. I wish for my family and friends to know that I do not fear death itself. I think that it is not the end, but a new beginning for me. I wish for all of my family members to make peace with each other before my death, if they can. I wish for my family and friends to think about what I was like before I became seriously ill. I want them to remember me in this way after my death. I wish for my family and friends and caregivers to respect my wishes even if they don’t agree with them.

    Hospice is a philosophy and type of care that provides comprehensive, loving support for people with life-limiting illnesses that have progressed beyond a doctor's expectation of cure. Hospice care includes effective pain management techniques, called "palliative care" or "comfort care," to enable people to be as free from pain as possible. Hospice care helps people to live with dignity, in comfort and peace, surrounded by their loved ones, as they approach the end of their lives. I think that if I were on my last leg of life and there was no chance of me getting better that I would want to take advantage of the Hospice services provided. I would want to spend my last weeks with my loved ones in my own home.

    Euthanasia is the process of painlessly helping a terminally ill person to die. Known also as assisted suicide or mercy killing, euthanasia is illegal for humans in the United States. Generally, euthanasia is performed by lethal injection, using the same drugs as those on death row are executed. I do not agree with euthanasia. I look at it as somewhat of suicide and I do not agree.

    “The Lord gives, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” Job 1:21 When I think of death I always think of this verse from the book of Job. It’s very true, God made this world and everything in it and he chooses when he takes these things back. Including loved ones. I admit when a loved one of mine gets sick or may be facing death I get extremely upset but then I think to myself that God is taking them for a reason and they will be happy and at peace.

The Funeral:

    I would want an open casket at my funeral. I want this because I would want my family and friends to be able to see me one last time. I know I would want to see my loved one, one more time. I would want a church service to be held at my church which is Saint Jacques in Taunton. I wouldn’t want sad or depressing music that they usually play at funerals. I would want happy and upbeat music like CCR and The Beatles. I know it may 
be a little unconventional but that’s what I would want. I found a poem after my grampa passed that I would want to be read at my funeral. It’s titled Death Is Nothing At All and is as follows: I have only slipped away into the next room. I am I, and you are you, whatever we were to each other, that we are still. Call me by the old familiar name. Speak of me in the easy way which you always used. Put no difference into your tone. Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow. Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes that we enjoyed together. Play, smile, think of me, pray for me. Let my name be ever the household word that it always was. Let it be spoken without effort, without the ghost of a shadow upon it. Life means all that it ever meant. It is the same as it ever was. There is absolute and unbroken continuity. What is this death but a negligible accident? Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight? I am but waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near, just round the corner. All is well. I don’t want my family and friends to be sad about my death. I want them to remember all the fun times that we had together and keep those happy thought in their heads.

The casket doesn’t really matter to me. I found one online that I found interesting. It looks so cushioned and comfortable. Not that I will know the difference anyway.

Solid Bronze Caskets are constructed of the highest quality 32 Oz. or 48 Oz. Solid Bronze material with finishes of the highest quality.  Bronze Caskets are the choice to a number of families because of its superiority in strength, durability and its natural non-rusting quality. Papavero Funeral Home has a variety of Solid Bronze Caskets to choose from in our showroom, ranging in style, color and price. I visited the Papavero Funeral Home website and found this. I can only imagine how expensive it is. Either way the casket doesn’t really matter to me.

    I don’t want people to spend a lot of money on flower arrangements which are just going to die in a couple days. I would rather have my loved ones and friends take the money they would of spent on flowers and donate it to The Cancer Research Foundation Of America. Cancer has taken many loved one’s away from me and I hope and pray that one day they will find a cure for this awful disease.

Disposal:

    I would want to be buried at Saint Joseph’s Cemetery in Taunton. My aunt, uncle, and grampa are all buried there. I want a simple headstone with a cross and flowers engraved on it. something like this:
I like the Celtic cross and four leaf clovers, it’s very me.  

 

    I found it really sobering to plan my own funeral. I don't fear death or dying. I know I will go to Heaven and I know I will be at complete peace and harmony. I enjoyed this project.