Saturday, February 20, 2016

The death of ApacheDug: keep your britches on, it’ll get here soon enough

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A couple nights ago, I was sitting up pretty late and doing some online searches for the obituary of a woman I hardly knew, a 51 year old postal worker named Carol.  (She’d lived in my building, and I was recently told by someone here that she died this past November.) 

I happened upon her final resting place, a cemetery in West Virginia.  They had a nice website with various pictures of their grounds, and then I did a double-take: in one of the photos, I saw a headstone with my name on it.  It’s not like I have an unusual name or anything, but to see that unexpectedly… it sent a real shiver up my spine.  

(Hmm… sadly enough, he died at age 60.  Being 54, that sure hit close to home.)

Not to be morbid, but it got me to thinking about my own death, and how I’d like it to be handled.  So I did what any other person in my situation would do—I began scouring the internet for headstones with my name on them!  Here’s some of ‘em.

dmt1

He only lived to 60, but seeing “Father” makes me feel he was loved & missed.  And he certainly lived through some interesting years in American history.

dmt2

Private Douglas Morris, served in the 340th Infantry.  That’s WWI, I hope his 20 years following the war were good ones.

dmt3

       1941 – 2003, died before his 62nd birthday

dmt4

2dmt4

I really liked this one;  Doug died a week short of his 25th birthday, but was a “woodsmen” with a timber-shaped headstone.  Only the good die young.

dmt5 

Two more young ones, 20 & 15 years old.  No disrespect, but I sure hope my final resting place doesn’t look like either of these.…

dmt6

Hmm… maybe a mausoleum is the way to go.  This has a Hollywood feel to it, I wonder what that symbol is between the dates?  Ulp--54 years old, like me!

dm6

Doug was 27 years old & looks like a casualty of the Vietnam War… if I was born 20 years earlier, this might’ve been me.

dmt8

This Doug lived through the Civil War, Spanish American War & WWI; 63 years old.

dmt9

Here we go, my namesake died at the ripe old age of 94!  Hmm, I wonder where his wife Callie is..

dm12 dm13

lg

Okay, I know what you’re thinking;  it’s one thing to see your name on a headstone, but aren’t there any out there with the same middle initial as well?  Because seeing THAT would be even stranger.

Say no more…

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This is my favorite one of them all; it’s big, bold—has that cool ‘M’ in the corner and of course, the same middle initial as mine.  It gives me a strange feeling for sure…

dmt14

Impressive, a Master Sergeant in WWII.  62 years old, why is it that I’ve only found one Douglas Morris that’s lived past that age?

dmt16

Good for him.  Douglas E. Morris was a veteran who lived to 84 years old.

dem14

This one is a tie with my favorite;  it has class & style.  And my full name.  59 years old… sigh!

dm10dm11









Another father, another Douglas E. Morris that only made it to 62.  I hope his years were good ones… with a wife named Elsie, I’d like to imagine they were.

Well, that’s it—I actually have a couple more, but I think I’m starting to get numb at seeing my name on these stones.  It has been giving me a lot to think about though, and in all seriousness I’m warming more & more (no pun intended) to the idea of being cremated.  I think I need to start looking at urns…

6 comments:

  1. This was interesting, and goofy of you. I have a picture of 6-month-old Sophia Lindon being held by her dad next to his own mother's grave. The name "Sophia Plock" etched in granite. He's smiling, she has her little fist in her mouth, and I was nauseous. I can't imagine how you felt seeing your own name on all these markers! (The one with the strange symbol looks like the Order of Mason's).

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    1. Thanks Shawn--yikes about Sophia! I remember this story but not the picture you'll have to show it to me.

      And for the record, if I die before you do & you have anything to do with my remains..

      1. Please don't spend any money on a casket. I'm pretty sure about going the cremation route, and most funeral homes will let you RENT a casket for funeral services. Don’t let them talk you into a pricey wooden box that’s just gonna get burned!

      2. You don’t have to have a service, but if you do—please don’t let any religious stuff be a part of them.

      3. Please keep my ashes in a Star Trek urn on your mantel—just kidding, you can dump ‘em where you see fit : )

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  2. Well, this was a bummer of a post. :) I think I'd be too afraid to Google headstones that have my name on it, but on occasion I have Googled just my name. You wouldn't believe how many other women out there around the globe share it, which is a little surprising because my surname certainly is not as common as Morris.

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    1. Well Pam, I didn't set out to find "my" headstones--it was only after I sorta stumbled across the first one that I became curious... I just hope I didn't jinx myself or anything :)

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  3. So your secret is out. You have a thing for headstones with your name on them. Were you born on Halloween or something?!



    ;P

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    1. Haha! Well Jase, as a matter of fact I was (but I think you already know that my friend :)

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