I usually find writing blogs for MFF a walk in the park. Some may criticize our site for finding the comedy in death and for encouraging people to “punctuate their life with a smile”. But it’s hard not too find a sense of humour when there is so many trends out there to brighten up the darker side of death. And so far the famous people we have wrote about, for the most part, have lived exciting, fulfilling and rather lengthy lives.
Yesterday however, I was lost for words.
The world was not ready to lose this talented, shy, modest, beautiful young man, to what was probably some freak accident.
As much as it pains me to say, heaven did not deserve him yet.
The Austrian village of Hallstatt is located between a mountain and lake, so therefore has very limited burial space.
To solve this problem they would allow for the remains of their dead to lie in the cemetery for 12 years only.
When the time was up the bones would be exhumed and moved to a charnel, but the skull would be kept. It would be tastefully decorated with the name of the deceased, a cross and plants. It would then be displayed in a chapel.
Although cremation has now been allowed in the village this custom still takes place.
This week we heard that the great Edmund Hillary died at the age of 88. Hillary became a hero because he and his partner were the first men to step on the Earth’s highest peak, Mount Everest, in 1953.
We know little about the man after this first step for mankind, but let it be known that his heroism continued throughout his life. For many years, Sir Edmund was president of New Zealand’s Peace Corps, and an important voice in his country’s conservation efforts. He never ran for public office, but was a frequent critic of New Zealand’s Government, calling for antipollution and other measures to improve the quality of life.
In his 1999 autobiography, View from the Summit, Hillary wrote of his wish to be cremated and his ashes scattered at sea.
“When climbers die on a mountain, the understandable reaction of family and friends is to say that they died doing what they enjoyed most and their bodies rest on the mountains they loved,” he wrote.
“However, I’ve never had any desire to end my days at the bottom of a deep crevasse - I’ve been down too many of them for that to have much appeal.
“I’m a somewhat fearful person and would prefer to go peacefully if that were possible.
“I should even like my ashes to be spread on the beautiful waters of Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf to be washed gently ashore, maybe on the many pleasant beaches near the place where I was born.
“Then the full circle of my life will be complete.”
Let’s see if his wishes are fulfilled.
Sir Edmund, MFF have taken the liberty of choosing your funeral song for you. Climb in Peace friend!
When Erin (from MFF fame) was asked by her husband what she wanted for Christmas this year, she forwent a diamond ring and expensive jewelry and with a wide, excited grin answered, “An ant farm!”
Like a child with her new toy, Erin spent the next week, eyes like saucers, studying her new pets and she was amazed with what she noticed.
When an ant dies its friends and family go into overdrive and begin organising its burial. The ants carefully stack their dead in neat piles. They then build underground cemeteries and neat compact burial mounds to honour their comrades.
With such sophistication me thinks it’s only a matter of time until ants are having their ashes packed into tiny diamond rings or launched into space.
