Planning my funeral

Have you ever thought about dying? I don’t mean in a morbid sense like ending your life, I just mean about dying in general. For years I always looked at death as a sleeping moment and not something so final. (Though this week having been exceptionally sick with the flu I certainly did have a pity party like I was dying.)

Being in the media I get emails from people all over the world with the most interesting stories. Sometimes it’s a matter of a couple back and forth messages and you really get to know a person. It’s interesting how much people will open up to a stranger if they feel comfortable.

I got a note from a young man who just got out of rehab and wanted to share his story about knowing (or at least thinking) after taking a handful of pills that he wouldn’t wake up the next morning. He went to bed that night believing he’d die in his sleep.

After reading his story a couple times I started questioning myself and my views on death.

I’m not afraid to die. I always just figured that once you’re gone, there’s really not much you can do about it. But when you see news stories about people getting killed just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, you see distraught family members left to mourn.

While I don’t think I’ll be sad for myself to die because I view it as a when-it’s-my-time-it’s-my-time kind of thing, I do worry about the affects the situation will have on my family. Will it be a total shock? Will I have been sick for a long time and it’ll be expected? Who knows?

I jokingly started talking about my funeral and how it won’t be a sad event. There will be musical numbers, lighting, funny stories and it will have high production value. I said it is going to be hosted by Ryan Seacrest. When Joan Rivers died last year she had the same sort of idea, according to a book she wrote.

Oftentimes the biggest memory ingrained in your mind of a person is the last time you saw them. For many, that’s eyes closed in a coffin. I want to be in a coffin with a smile on my face. I’m a smiley person and that’s how I want people to remember me. Not only will having a fun funeral help that, but I want them to see me how I always was.

So, I’m not exactly planning to die tomorrow, but I think you’re never too young to start thinking about the legacy you want to leave behind. You want to leave your loved ones happy, and not with a sense of misery.