A Philosophical Discussion

One rainy afternoon, Michelle and I got into a discussion about how we plan to be buried. (No, I have no idea how this came up either.)

At any rate, I asked, "Buried or cremated?" and with a delicate shudder, she replied, "Buried! (warming to the topic) Some souls aren't ready to go -- they need more time here."

This was certainly a novel concept to me and "paganism" flickered briefly through my mind. Instead, I said, "Michelle -- medically speaking, at the nanosecond of death, you're gone! What was 'you' -- personality, self, soul! goes leaving only our bodies -- or shells -- behind to be disposed of."

Stubbornly, she said, "I decided this when my father-in-law died -- Boom! Cremation! Service! Gone. It wasn't time enough for me..."she said somewhat wistfully.

"I'm all for speed," I said, "People can party for the next 30 days if they want to! I never want to be defenceless in a box with everyone looking down on me and making unfavorable comments..."

We sat in silence for a moment. I was thinking very hard. Both of my in-laws had been buried and to this day, standing at their graves, I can look "down" and see them, lying in their best in the casket, exactly as they did at the viewing. Not a pleasant thought.. Still, Michelle is entitled to her own opinion and thoughts. I thought some more.

"I know what! If you go first, bring your soul to California to say "Goodbye" to me there. I'll never have time to make it to France from there... let alone full-price plane tickets. Yes (nodding to myself) I think that's best. It's not like it would cost you anything... astral travel..."

Michelle looked startled and then began to smile -- the idea was taking hold, I could see that. Quick to seal the deal, I added, "You could make it sort of a world tour -- I know you have friends in Thailand and Japan and..."

She was laughing hard now. "You are too funny!" she spluttered.

Still, she didn't reject the idea out of hand either...