Not to be Morbid But...

Looks like a good place to spend eternity!

I don't want to be morbid but I just read Michelle Ward's GPP Street Team Crusade #24 and it seems to me to be such a kind and sensible thing to do. Michelle is reminding us to do something based on her recent experience of losing her sister, Shannon, to Cystic Fibrosis. Before her sister died, Michelle was able to talk to her about what she wanted and how she wanted to be remembered, and what of her things she wanted people to have as remembrances of her. Michelle reminded us to make our family and friends aware of our Final Wishes.

One of my Final Wishes is to have my ashes sprinkled in the pine trees near the Lumberjack lift at Copper Mountain, Colorado, my personal favorite place on earth. It's in my will. The Sports Fan and my nephews know about it. I think that it's a delightful idea that people will go skiing after I die because of me. They can put me and Mr. Jaspy in plastic bags and carry us up the L lift and then stop somewhere on the side of Ten Mile run and sprinkle us under some trees where nobody is likely to ski and fall when their skis hit the ashes. We wouldn't want anyone to be hurt because of us!

I would have chosen the spot in the trees under the H lift but they'd get caught by the ski patrol there and I don't want them to have their tickets yanked and not be able to put me where I most want to be, dead or alive!

As far as I'm concerned, the whole family can go! The more the better. I want all of those little great nieces out there on skis or snowboards. I'm not a stick snob. Skinny or fat, the point is not what ride you prefer but that you go ski. Hopefully, before I go, there will be some little great nephews to go along too. (6 girls and no boys so far in that generation! But that's with only one nephew contributing. I have more in the wings!) And if knowing me or being related to me or living with me makes you go do it, so much the better!

So write a letter to your loved ones. Give it to them now and tell them what you want. Let them know in writing what of yours you want them to have later. Let them know that you love them enough to stop the fights and the arguments before they ever start. And if you get it notarized, it might carry more weight at the end. Sure, you can put a copy in with your will, or make it part of your will. But don't just put it in your safe deposit box or wherever it is that you like to hide important stuff. They might not find your hiding place until way too late. Safety deposit boxes are sealed by the bank as soon as they are notified of your death and can't be opened until your executor achieves probate. This could be months! You might have had a big funeral with the limos and casket and burial in the family plot already before they find your notes about the simple cremation and scattering your ashes in the water at your favorite beach in the Bahamas.

Yeah, I know it sounds morbid and I didn't want to go there. I'm just saying that it's better to get what you want even if you have to overcome some initial distaste of the topic to get there.

And if you go skiing because I reminded you of it, or because like me, when there's the first faint nip of winter in the air, your thoughts go mountainwards, then please leave a comment and tell me about it. I wonder how many months I'd have to exercise to get back in shape to ski? Could I do it in time to ski this coming season? Season pass lift tickets are on sale now! For $329, you can ski any time you can get there. Sounds like a bargain to me! Go ski now... or at least take your skis to get tuned. Try those boots on. Buy a new parka.

And maybe while you're out there skiing or snowboarding this winter, you'll look around for a little place of your own to spend eternity within earshot of the whirr of the bullwheels and where the nip of winter is always in the air!