What would YOU want? (And a lesson from Royal Tenenbaum)

Hello again, fellow archaeology students. This weeks blog prompt really got me thinking (as I suppose it is meant to) and immediately reminded me of all of the times we, as kids, would ask each other what we would want if, or rather when, we died. I realize this sounds pretty morbid for kids to discuss, but having known many people who had passed on, death was something I pondered as a kid and much more as a teenager. At one point, I even wrote a will. Just in case. Needless to say, it is horribly out-dated and didn't need to be used.

To attempt to answer the first point, I will have to try to explain my personal opinion regarding burial and funerary practices. Of all of the loved ones I have known to pass, I have only attended one funeral, and though there was grieving and mourning, it was a party! We danced, there was a trampoline, plenty of drink (naturally), and everyone was able to bring themselves to share laughs and happier memories. This all happened because "it was what he would have wanted". And ever since that experience, I have wondered that same thing, and made it quite clear what I would want. This is probably the most personal blog entry I have ever written, but at least now the internet knows what to do with me when I go. C'est la vie!

To make this more interesting, and to answer question two, I have decided to test my partner's and my sister's knowledge of me and ask them what they think I would want and would properly represent me. Here's the comparison...

Arielle's Funeral and Related Grave Goods: According to My Sister

"I would include the pendants and rings you wear every day and put them in a leather pouch you keep crystals in. Feathers. Crystals. An acorn branch with oak leaves, a gingko leaf, and a lock of my hair to give you a part of me"

(I have tattoos for the aforementioned leaves. Pretty thoughtful sister, huh? *tear*)

Arielle's Funeral and Related Grave Goods: According to Danny

"I would bury you with your crystals and something of me to take with you, but really I know you wouldn't want to buried. I'd cremate you in the woods."

Arielle's Funeral and Related Grave Goods: According to Arielle

As I am guessing it is illegal to simply be buried in a hole in the woods without a casket, I would want to be cremated and spread in the forest or in a stream. I suppose to include grave goods, I would be buried in the forest at the base of a large tree, with trinkets buried with me. To be honest, I didn't expect this to get quite so personal, but here we go:

My grave goods would contain assorted crystals and gems from my collection. There are certain stones I would want passed on, and others could return to the earth with me. Apart from these stones, the only material items I possess that really identify me as me would be my jewelry; a long chain with 5 silver pendants which I have worn nearly every day for 6 years, but a part me would want those passed on too. The only other things I would want with me would be a bushel of forget-me-nots, though I don't think those would preserve very well. Sorry, archaeologists, I'm not giving you much to work with, but then again, I'm sure some people don't want to be found once they've moved on.

I feel like, at least for those places and cultures that are experiencing disintegration of traditional values and religious customs, the number of traditional burials containing those few trinkets locked away in caskets will decline. Or is it in our nature to want to be remembered? Somehow solidified in that moment in time, with pieces left of you to prove you were there and what you did was real. Whatever the case for the future, it seems more of me will be left by others than what I'd leave for myself. So, to end this very long blog post, I turn to Royal Tenenbaum, to remind us that what we find isn't always true, but maybe it's what they wanted :)