Grim stuff, eh? Not necessarily.
I've had half a dozen angina attacks since xmas and the second one almost got me by all accounts. There was no pain, I felt lucid, but I was totally incapacitated. I've recovered well and am reasonably fit now. As a result I'm not afraid of death. If it comes as it did on my near-miss, it will be a good death.
BUT, in the aftermath, I decided to prepare an 'exit file' to make it easy for my wife to sort out my affairs. Most things, like life insurances, bank acct. transfers, pensions, the will, etc, were easy to sort and file.
The one thing that took some thought was my own funeral. Did I go along with her wishes, or my kids, or do I stay true to myself and my Atheism, even in death.
As an Atheist, it matters not to me what happens to my earthly remains, which as far as the evidence presents, is all there is in this generation. But I have decided to make some small statement , through the manner of my 'going' in support of my atheistic stance.
I contacted the Humanist assoc. and advised them that I wished to have a Humanist officiated funeral 'event' to mark my final going and they kindly supplied me with the name and phone number of our local Humanist 'officiant' (love that title!). I phoned him and had a good chat with him to satisfy myself that he was the kind of person I'd want to do the job. He was gratified that, for once, he'd got to talk to someone 'en vivant' as it were, before the event, and I must say that I really enjoyed my chat with him.
So my wife is agreeable and she has a contact number.
After my cremation, my wife and children will eventually scatter my ashes with those of my little dog, either around my family's tree (that I told you about in a previous post) or on the cliffs at South Stack, my favourite place on earth. I just love the idea of a small part of me becoming part of such a ravishingly beautiful place.
So, I've been wondering whether any of you apostates, especially the older amongst you, have given the matter any thought. Those of you who are atheists now - will you defer to your families wishes or will you devise your own exit strategy?
Oddly enough I have been thinking about this as my ill health recently has been bringing such thoughts to my mind.
I'm quite happy for my loved ones to do what makes them happy - since I really won't care.
But I have made my will - split 4 ways amongst my 4 kids lol
I have been wondering if I'm going to meet God - and what he will be like if I do - a psycho ala religions - or truly loving as I think.