I Was A Zombie For A Day.

I am not sure when it all started but about 10 years ago, I became obsessed with the idea that my husband and I needed to buy our burial plots.  Immediately.  I started looking for the perfect Retirement Home for us.  I went  alone because at the age of 30, he thought I was nuts being a bit premature.

I started thinking about the comfort of the people left behind after I die and thought that people would be much more comfortable in a Mausoleum than outside, especially in the winter (because OF COURSE oodles of people will want to visit me after I die).  I started pricing the Filing Cabinet Drawers as I like to call them.

Mausoleum at Holy Sepulchre

The drawers go all the way up to the ceiling.  The ones at the top are the least expensive.  The ones at the floor are the second least expensive and the ones at eye level are most expensive.  I had to laugh at the idea that the eye level drawers were considered “Prime Real Estate” but I was not laughing at all at the prices.  If I wanted to buy one at that time, it would have to be the one at the ceiling.  My family would have to bring scaffolding if they wanted to sit with me.

I decided to consider the outdoor plots.  My entire family (just about) had been buried at Holy Sepulchre.  It really is a beautiful cemetery but I decided to look at White Haven as well.  White Haven is a bit different.  They do not allow any raised markers (tomb stones) nor do they allow any planting of flowers or other “lawn trash.”  The whole place looks like a park instead of a cemetery.  They even call it a “Memorial Park” rather than a cemetery.

White Haven Ground Burial Site

I got such a calm feeling being there and I thought “THIS is it!”

Then in 2006, my mother died.  She was just shy of 64.  She was buried in the ground at Holy Sepulchre.

Mom’s headstone.

I decided that I wanted to spend the following Mother’s Day with my mom.  I packed some flowers and gardening tools, a lunch, a blanket, a book, a journal, and a blanket.  The weather was beautiful.

I arrived at about 10am.  I planted some flowers, sat on the blanket and read my book, wrote a letter to Mom in my journal and just took everything in.  It was so peaceful and I felt closer to my mom than I had in a long time.  Then I lied on the blanket and took a nap.

I woke up to some guy yelling, “THAT ONE JUST MOVED!!!”  I sat up and he was staring at me.  He yelled, “Oh my God!  You scared the shit out of me!  I thought you was dead!!!!”  I laughed hysterically and yelled back, “What did you think?  They just forgot to bury me or that I am a zombie?!”

Mom and I certainly enjoyed the laugh at the poor guy’s expense!

It was then and there that I decided that a ground plot where people are allowed to plant flowers was the place for me.  Because my mom was in the ground in a place where gardening is allowed, I got to spend 8 hours just hanging out with her in the gorgeous weather, playing pranks on the other visitors!  I don’t want to rob my kids of the opportunity to scare the ever-loving shit out of someone like that when I die!!

This post is for The 30 Days of Writing Challenge hosted by We Work For Cheese.  Today’s prompt is “Hanging out in the cemetery.”

June 16, 2012 | Categories: Control, Death, Embarrassing, FAIL!, Flowers, Gardening, Gifts, give me strength!, God and Christianity, Hopes and Dreams, Just Not Right, Memes, Mom, My Sick Mind, Spring, Support, survival | Tags: a day at the cemetery, Burial, Cemetery, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, death, embarrassing, hanging out at cemetery, Holy Sepulchre, Mausoleum, Mother's Day, support, survivor, visiting the cemetery | 10 Comments »