Some days, I don't know what to write because I have nothing to say. Some days I don't know what to write because I have too much to say. Or too many choices.
Today--continue with thankful posts? Write about death? Or the gamelan concert tonight?
I think I will wait to see if pictures from the gamelan get posted--I didn't take any because my camera/phone was in my pocket, which was pretty inaccessible under my costume.
So...death it is! I finished reading "Smoke gets in your eyes and other lessons from the crematory" by Caitlin Doughty, and it was such an interesting read. I was reading it quickly because it has a shortened due date since others are waiting to read it. And with death on my mind while reading this book, wouldn't you know it but that my friend Janice (Kapp Perry) would end up in the hospital having had a stroke on Friday, and then this morning our university librarian, Jennifer Paustenbaugh, died after a valiant, over-the-top, concerted effort to beat cancer. She just sent us all her letter of resignation on Friday, and though I didn't think she would see the New Year in, I was quite shocked that she died today!
I didn't think she would last the year in 2018, but she did, and she made it almost through 11 months of 2019. Her cancer has been terrible, and aggressive and unremitting, and yet she would come to work looking like a million bucks. I have not seen very many people as resilient as Jennifer. She was the energizer bunny of not giving in to cancer.
Until--she finally was just worn out by it. She has not been at work for about six weeks or so now, and the rumor mill said that she would be stepping down at the end of December.
It was very odd to have someone die while I was reading this book, and thinking about how ridiculous it is to be embalmed and put in a ridiculously expensive coffin. And thinking about whether it is better to be cremated or just dig a hole and put your body in it to decompose properly, or whether it is better to donate your body to science.
One of my neighbors did that--donated her body to science. She was a very dedicated teacher, and I think she wanted to keep on teaching after she died, so if her spirit can't be around to do that, she wanted her body to teach somebody something. So there is zero expense at death when you donate your whole body--unless, of course, doing so becomes too trendy--then they will think of some way to monetize it, am I right? They come and take your body away within 24 hours and then you might allow doctors to do trial procedures or implant trial devices, so they learn on a dead guinea pig instead of a live one. You can be an organ donor AND a body donor--you die, and they will first harvest your organs, and then find an organization that wants the rest of you. Or they might just want your head, or your leg, or whatever. Or you could be a crash-test dummy--sometimes they like to try things out with a real dead body to see what happens upon impact.
Well--read the book! It will make you think!
Today--continue with thankful posts? Write about death? Or the gamelan concert tonight?
I think I will wait to see if pictures from the gamelan get posted--I didn't take any because my camera/phone was in my pocket, which was pretty inaccessible under my costume.
So...death it is! I finished reading "Smoke gets in your eyes and other lessons from the crematory" by Caitlin Doughty, and it was such an interesting read. I was reading it quickly because it has a shortened due date since others are waiting to read it. And with death on my mind while reading this book, wouldn't you know it but that my friend Janice (Kapp Perry) would end up in the hospital having had a stroke on Friday, and then this morning our university librarian, Jennifer Paustenbaugh, died after a valiant, over-the-top, concerted effort to beat cancer. She just sent us all her letter of resignation on Friday, and though I didn't think she would see the New Year in, I was quite shocked that she died today!
I didn't think she would last the year in 2018, but she did, and she made it almost through 11 months of 2019. Her cancer has been terrible, and aggressive and unremitting, and yet she would come to work looking like a million bucks. I have not seen very many people as resilient as Jennifer. She was the energizer bunny of not giving in to cancer.
Until--she finally was just worn out by it. She has not been at work for about six weeks or so now, and the rumor mill said that she would be stepping down at the end of December.
It was very odd to have someone die while I was reading this book, and thinking about how ridiculous it is to be embalmed and put in a ridiculously expensive coffin. And thinking about whether it is better to be cremated or just dig a hole and put your body in it to decompose properly, or whether it is better to donate your body to science.
One of my neighbors did that--donated her body to science. She was a very dedicated teacher, and I think she wanted to keep on teaching after she died, so if her spirit can't be around to do that, she wanted her body to teach somebody something. So there is zero expense at death when you donate your whole body--unless, of course, doing so becomes too trendy--then they will think of some way to monetize it, am I right? They come and take your body away within 24 hours and then you might allow doctors to do trial procedures or implant trial devices, so they learn on a dead guinea pig instead of a live one. You can be an organ donor AND a body donor--you die, and they will first harvest your organs, and then find an organization that wants the rest of you. Or they might just want your head, or your leg, or whatever. Or you could be a crash-test dummy--sometimes they like to try things out with a real dead body to see what happens upon impact.
Well--read the book! It will make you think!
2 comments:
Interesting post! I'm so sorry about your friend who died and also the one who had a stroke!
I missed reading this post earlier! Sorry about the death while reading about death (I still need to find a copy of that book, but I'm in the middle of two others so it will have to wait for a bit). Karen wanted to be an organ donor but they wouldn't take her organs so we just cremated her. In a way I'm glad because it's kind of weird to me to think about bodies decomposing in the ground for years and years...so I don't have to ever wonder what state of decomposition she's in. But at the same time, she asked for no sort of marker or anything...but I think that people LIKE having a memorial of sorts? So many cultures do (ours included, at least traditionally—with headstones). I wonder if it would help some of Andrew's siblings to process things better if they could visit a grave? I mean, we're out here so we can't visit...but I wonder if it would have been wise to do something like that.
My friend's brother died just a few weeks before Karen and they cremated him but then still buried his ashes in the graveyard, so he's got a headstone and everything.
I don't know. Death is just confusing (as is life). :D
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