Thanks Nadine
Yes, we will always miss the ones we loved and who loved us also so much.
In our case, my parents have already made the arrangements for our final resting place and most of the issues involved. I think that is such a wonderful proof of their love, because when someone dies... there are so many things to do, papers to sign, etc., that support is really needed.
I am also glad to see Janet being there for her brother and her family. Wonderful.
I totally understand, PCR, but there are some things that are not paid for by family beforehand, at least I would think so (i.e. incidentals).
For example, my family doesn't have to worry about paying for a burial plot because there is already one reserved for each one of us back in Montana, the family plot. My grandmother, auntie, father, and brother are already laid to rest there, but there is a whole section reserved for myself, my mother, and my brother & sisters. So we don't have to worry about that part, unlike the Jackson Family whom had to pay a monumental fee from The Michael Jackson Estate in order to reserve a whole section for them at Forest Lawn Cemetery. All thanks to Michael, of course.
But my family all had to chip in for such things as caskets (e.g. my father's alone cost $2000 because it was special made, whereas my brother's cost $1000 because his was made out of pinewood, same as my grandmother & auntie). And of course there is the cost for embalming, transport of body via airplane, printing of memorians, traveling expenses, clothes, tombstone/headstone (my father's cost $1600 alone, my brother $1000), etc. All this can run anywhere from $6,000-$8,000. And that's not including a burial plot, which can run from $6500 on upward, depending on where one is laid to rest, but in my family's case we don't have to worry about that because as I said earlier we already have a family plot reserved in Montana.
Sorry for rambling on, but I found the whole funeral for Michael interesting, fascinating to say the least. Brought up things that people don't like to think about, totally understandable, but which eventually become necessary.
Hmm, actually there is somebody that I know wherein *everything* was totally paid for by the loved one, just a regular person, not a superstar or anything like that. I'm talking about my best friend's eldest brother whom passed on September 29th of this year. He knew he was dying from cancer back in August & during that month he made arrangements for the sale of his condo in New York, his own funeral (i.e. he was cremated), his ashes, the sale of his furniture, traveling arrangements, his hospice bills, et al. Arlene didn't have to do a thing. I was blown away by his consideration. And what he had left over he left in a trust to be divided between his baby sisters (i.e. my best friend & her twin sister.
Apologies for going off topic everybody, but funerals are expensive, and I'm sure each one of us would like to pay for our own without having to rely on loved ones, but sometimes that's not possible, unless one knows when one is going to die, or one comes from a wealthy family wherein a trust is set up specifically to pay for the funeral costs of ALL the family members, including incidentals.
