katakat.com bytes from a participant observer

One of my cousins died this morning (David's obituary as a .pdf). I think he was 46. I haven't seen him in about 10 years, but I'm sure his folks and siblings are taking it hard. Since that part of the family is on the East Coast, it will be an incredible odyssey getting my mother out there for the funeral. Meanwhile, Dad will be driving the U-Haul out here to SD. Things are gonna get REALLY interesting next week. The death brought up a discussion about burial plots. My parents have plots out East, with my mom's family. However, seeing as we all currently reside out on the West Coast, burying them back East seems like abandonment, since we would rarely, if ever, make a 3,000 mile trip out there to visit their gravesites. Us kids, being in our late 30s, don't have any burial plans at all. And, evidently, burial is not "environmentally correct" out here in CA-- most people go for cremation. I'm in the midst of planning for my retirement and long term care, but I haven't yet considered prepping for my own eventual demise.