Have you ever thought about what you want on your headstone?

Following the Death of Diana, Princess of Wales, in the days of mourning before the funeral, this inscription, by Thomas Campbell, was placed on the gates of Kensington Palace: "To live in the hearts of those we leave behind is not to die."
 

My late husband's urn is buried in the local cemetery and my cremated ashes will be buried
in the same lot after a grave side service.
The inscription on the headstone is, Our Days Quickly Pass, But Faith Spans Eternity.
That suits me fine.
 

It will be the VA's Granite upright type.

At the top will be the 'Atheist' symbol.
Under that: Name, Rank, USAF, War Service, Birth/Death dates and Loving Husband, Father.
The back of the stone will be for my wife.

Since both the wife and I will be cremated, just the headstone will be placed at the National
Cemetery that my Mom and Dad are at in California.
 
spike.jpg
This is the headstone of a much loved comedian name of Spike Milligan.
The epitaph reads: "I told you I was ill," written in Gaelic. You will find Spike's,
(Terence Alan) grave at St. Thomas' Church, Winchelsea, East Sussex. UK.

There is even more humour about his grave, very subtle mind.
Milligan was raised Catholic and expressed the view that "someone raised a Catholic
was always a Catholic", referring to himself as a Catholic throughout his life.

St. Thomas' Church is Anglican. Comic to the end was our dear Spike.

​

 
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At my husband's Military funeral someone from the VA Cemetery office came up to me, after the burial ceremony to double check my name and birth date, because I can be buried on top of him at the National Cemetery, , if cremated.
Then they gave me the Deed to his plot.

But I think my daughter will take my ashes home with her, or scatter them on my farm.

When I moved here our the closest neighbors were an elderly couple. They showed me photos of their headstone which only needed the dates of their death. They had designed it themselves.
There were colored wool skeins on the headstone, his wife's favorate hobby, and a depiction of his golf cart, which they used to visit us or travel over his farm. The cart had music. He could play about different songs, and played them Very Loud.

We woke up to the Star Spangled Banner very early one morning, a few days after we had moved in.
 
I should have added- the spouse's name and dates of birth and death are etched into the back of their spouses headstone at National Cemeteries. That is why they check the name spelling and birth date at Military funerals , of the surviving spouse.

The worse part of all that, for me, was that so many of our friends at the VA and some other neighbors, and friends ,came to my house, afterwards, and I had prepared lots of food for them, but , in spite of the fact that I cared for all of them,
I admit that I secretly just wanted them to leave. I think I was still in shock over his sudden death.
 
oldaunt said:
Nope. No headstone, no grave, no funeral.
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Same here. My hubby that passed away in October didn't want anything either. I have his cremains in the closet. Not sure if I'll bury him or not. If I did, I think I'd have to have a headstone. In that case, it would just his (our) names and dates. He was a very simple and private man and didn't want any fuss. He was also "frugal"...haha :)
 
I don't want a headstone, nor do I want some epitaph that characterizes my life in some simplistic way.
Edit: yes for cremation, if my loved ones want to have a party in remembrance that's up to them.
 
Cemeteries and head stones are a waste in my opinion. After two or three generations no one will ever look at your grave again.

Cremate me, put my ashes in the creek and let my essence wash across the property I loved. Every spring I will be reborn to a new cycle of life.
 
C50 said:
Cemeteries and head stones are a waste in my opinion. After two or three generations no one will ever look at your grave again.

Cremate me, put my ashes in the creek and let my essence wash across the property I loved. Every spring I will be reborn to a new cycle of life.
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You can still ask one of your surviving family (in advance :)) to include a "memorial" for you on "find a grave dot com". Some folks make a hobby out of this, and spend days at the cemetery taking photos of the monuments and entering the data into the website.
 
Buckeye said:
You can still ask one of your surviving family (in advance :)) to include a "memorial" for you on "find a grave dot com". Some folks make a hobby out of this, and spend days at the cemetery taking photos of the monuments and entering the data into the website.
Click to expand...
One time, one of those "hobbiests" posted a picture of one of my ancestor's grave along with erroneous information. I asked her to remove the post, as I already had posted information on this person. She emphatically refused, being very rude about it. So I asked her to at least correct the erroneous information she posted and I never heard back from her. So her incorrect info is still out there as well as my post. This is distressing to me as a serious genealogist. Don't ever rely on the internet when researching your family. There's a lot of people out there who don't care if they post erroneous info. I've even found bad info on RootsWeb, Ancestry, and Family Search.
 
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