When I die...

When I die, I don't want to become a piece of rock bearing my name and a few numbers, laid out in formation like soldiers marching to war on a field of green. A place where those left behind come to shed a tear, or lay down some flowers, or cheer, depending on who they are. A place where some anonymous caretaker runs a lawn mower over my face weekly to keep the area tidy. A place where some distant progeny of progeny may come to view a final resting place of great-great-great-grandpa who they never knew, where I become to them a stone in a field.

Don't get me wrong. Like most every one, I want to be remembered. I want to be remembered for how I lived, how I may have contributed to the world's betterment, not where my corpse is planted into the ground, in a fiberglass-and-resin box to keep the worms out. Maybe part of me writing all these things is to give some record of me that will last.

I've said many times, "part me out, burn the rest". I still feel that way. Take what will help other people live their lives in better health or free of some disability. Then the rest of my earthly shell can be made to ash and scattered to the four winds in a meaningful place. Not the ocean -- I don't want to be fish food. A mountain trail, maybe. Or mix it into some asphalt and make a multi-use trail.

Don't spend the money on a big funeral. I've seen the numbers. It sickens me, really. Even the simplicity of burying some ashes at a site is near highway robbery, and don't get me started on burying a full body. I don't know how much it costs just for cremation... And I know it's against all kinds of laws to have a funeral pyre these days. Too bad. There's just something poetic about pushing a wooden boat out on the water and sending a flaming arrow to light it. No more noble kings, I guess. Warriors that were burned on the beach, the armies given the time to properly care for their dead, a coin on each eye for the ferryman...

I hope it's still a long time from now. I have a long list of things I want to do first. And that's not just a bucket list.

When I die... Clink a couple glasses together and toast the ways I may have touched your life -- hopefully for the better. And go out there and make the world a better place.