Day 28 - Passing On

My Christmas break is currently being spent in Phoenix, Arizona. Many of my relatives live here and it's near (3 hours near) the small town where I grew up. This year, I'm here because my grandpa passed away back in May and we had a memorial service and ash spreading. The memorial service was a little unorthodox. Close friends and family gathered in a banquet room at a local Italian restaurant where we ate and were merry in honor of my grandpa. We not very formal people. The next day, we drove a total of 7 hours to spread my grandpa's ashes in a small place in the middle of the mountains called Paradise, AZ. No one knows for sure if my grandpa was serious when he said he wanted to be spread there, or if he was just being clever. Too late, we took him at his word.

My grandpa's passing has caused all of us to spend some time thinking about how we want to die ourselves. Are our finances in order? Do we want to be buried or cremated? How do we want to be remembered? Do we want a service?

In all honesty, I rarely think about my own death. It feels very far away, and hopefully, it is. The only thing I think about in regards to my death is this: I want my death to be inspirational. I hope my death causes people to think about their own lives and pushes them to SOMETHING - preferably eat something delicious, travel somewhere fabulous, or change the world for the better. 

There's only one catch to my glorious plan. The only way my death is going to cause that kind of inspiration is if I've lived up to it myself. This moment is a part of the legacy I will leave when I'm gone. So, the moral of the story is something we all know but needs to be said every once in a while: Live your life the way you want to be remembered.