Death is a part of life that I believe we all have to understand and accept even though most people aren't able to do so. The idea of death is usually avoided by most people but death itself can’t be avoided by anyone. Due to this fact, death plans are extremely important. For this cumulating project I decided to interview my mother(38 years old) and my Grandmother(64 years old) about their death plans.
Interview W/ Mother:
When you think about death what comes to mind?
Heart break and the end of life
Have you ever put much thought into death plans & if so what are your death plans?
Yes, everything is set already. I feel like I had to because I am not the healthiest person in the world and you never know when it will be your time. I have to make sure you kids are ok without me. I will to have a funeral but I refuse to be buried, I want to be cremated.
Do you want to be buried or cremated and why?
I want to be cremated because I don't want my children to have to travel to a cemetery, which is such a depressing place. I want to be with my loved ones even when I'm gone.
What are your main reasons for your death plans?
Life can be taken away from you at any moment and when you have a family that depends on you of it becomes even more important.
Are death plans something you try to avoid or something you want plan to take advantage of?
Defiantly take advantage of, the pain and mourning is enough to handle I don't want my family to go through anymore struggle
Do you plan on following the dominant social practices of funerals, wakes, etc.. Or do you have other things planned?
I am going to do everything traditionally besides burial.
Interview W/Grandmother:
When you think about death what comes to mind?
Sadness, When ever I catch my self thinking about it I try not to.
Have you ever put much thought into death plans & if so what are your death plans?
No I haven't really thought about it alot. I don’t want people to show pity, Im going to die and thats it.
What are your main reasons for your death plans?
I don’t really have any plans. I don’t like to think about dying.
Are death plans something you try to avoid or something you want plan to take advantage of?
I have been avoiding it, like I said before I don't like to think about dying, but I think it’s time to start planning.
Do you plan on following the dominant social practices of funerals, wakes, etc.. Or do you have other things planned?
Funerals, burials, and wakes are the only way’s to do it. I think every other way is wrong, this is the way we have been doing this for hundreds of years, why change now?
After conducting the these two interviews I was able to come along more questions and ideas about the care of the dead as well as death itself. The first interview that included my 38 year mother did not come to a surprise to me. It did not because of the fact that she has been open about her death plans and her thoughts about death. Due to this I feel like I am more at ease with the idea of death even though I believe there is a big time gap between now and the death of my mother. Even though this interview didn't come as a surprise that does not mean it wasn't interesting and insightful. Through this interview I was able to notice something that I have been looking past this whole time. Even when it comes to the death of my mother, the main and first priority is her family. She stated that she didn't want her “family to struggle”. Death plans are not only significant to the person that is dying but equally important to the people who are affected by this death.
When it comes to my Grandmother, death is something I believe is going to come long sooner then we know it. After this interview I was in a way confused but also shocked. My 64 year old grandmother who isn't the one of the healthiest 64 year old woman in the world is hardly thinking about death. The one who is closest to her expiration date is the one who is not planning and the one who pushes the idea away. The most interesting statement from this interview had to be ; “I don’t want people to show pity, Im going to die and thats it.” This stood out to me because this was an idea that I found very interesting. Most people feel inclined to show pity and feel sorry for someone who is dead even if they have no relation with the person. I believe this is one of the dominant social practices we have today. These interviews were a great help to my understanding of death itself and the care of the dead. I came to the conclusion that; even though some people do accept and have an understanding of death, when it comes to the majority no matter how clear the idea of death is people tend to still avoid and shun it.
Javon,
ReplyDeleteIt was very interesting to me that even at such a young age your mom already has her plans for what happens to her when she dies already figured out. Unlike my mom who hasn't even thought about it i think that it was smart of her to plan out her arrangements so early just incase.
Christina/Mentor
ReplyDeleteJavon I will like to say generally your post was good. There are things you can build on such as elaborating on the question some. What I mean by that is to create more thorough and in depth questions. By doing so you would have gotten more thorough answers. Even though there were things you could enhance I enjoyed reading your post. Your explanations and reasoning in your analytical paragraphs were good overall and gave me a clear understanding of what your ideas were. Good Job
Brandon/protege
ReplyDeleteJay I liked the way you talked about the interview with your grandmother and mother. I found it interesting that our grandmother did not have death plans because of her age. I thought it was good that your mother had plans.