As I grow older, I am beginning to worry about things I never considered when I was younger. One of those things is how are my children going to afford the funeral expenses when I pass away?
Many years ago I worked for a company that had life insurance as a benefit, yes they deducted the cost from my pay, but it was an easy painless way to get it. That company however, chose to go where they could pay people substantially lower wages and offer no benefits at all. With them went my life insurance and all other great benefits they offered their employees who worked on USA soil. Which is an entirely different rant that I won't go into now!
Back to the subject at hand. I have not been able to work for over a decade, there are a few reasons, some health related, some family related, but with an income that barely meets expenses the idea of life, or burial insurance policies is downright laughable. I once told my kids to just strip me of all ID and leave me on the side of the road and I would be buried as a Jane Doe, or to bury me in the back yard. Of course I was joking, but inside I was thinking how are my 2 sons (both on SSI for disabilities and handicaps) and my daughter (a single mother) ever going to be able to afford things if-no when-I die? Not that I have any intention of doing that any time soon, but with life being so unpredictable one never knows when the final curtain will come down.
The other day I was talking about this with my neighbor and she told me about an option I had never even thought of, gifting your body to medical science. She has registered for this herself which is one reason I decided to check into it further. I have to admit though that the main selling point is the cost, which is a mere $25.00.
You read that right. My family will receive my cremains for free, if they can pick them up, if they need to be mailed there is a nominal fee. The return of cremains service itself will be prepaid by me when I send in my forms. Everything will be handled by the organization and they will even assist my family with other details. For instance they will immediately make arrangements with a mortuary transport company to pick up my body and transport it to their facility. They will make the arrangements to register the death with my state's Dept. of Vital Records and also assist my family with obtaining copies of the death certificate.
I have made my decision and will be contacting them tomorrow to set this in motion as soon as possible, just in case. I like knowing that my children will not have to deal with anything other than what to do with my ashes when I get sent to them. I do know that I don't want to be buried, which is just another unneeded expense in my eyes. If they want to do the burial thing that's up to them, otherwise they can just stick my box of ashes next to my mother's ashes on the bookshelf, or throw them into the wind somewhere.
Another thing I really like is that they offer a follow up letter to let my family know which medical and educational programs benefited from my gift. I also really like knowing that I can still donate organs upon my death to help save the lives of others..and then continue to help save lives through medical research.
That is who I am, I have taken care of people my whole life. What better way to honor my memory than to let me continue to do it even after I am gone. Not only strangers, but my own family, by making what would otherwise be a very stressful, expensive situation as easy as possible for them.
If you are like me and have no insurance to help cover your funeral expenses when you're gone and would like to learn more, here is the non-profit organization I will be contacting "Anatomy Gifts Registry". Check out their site, read the article and information there and maybe you will decide that gifting your body to science is right for you too.
UPDATE:The day after I posted this, I was rushed by ambulance to the hospital because I was having a heart attack. How's that for a coincidence? I had 2 stents put in, went home a day later and then went back the next day, again by ambulance because of a possible SECOND heart attack.
Besides thinking that this was it..and worrying about my family, the one thought that hit me was that I didn't have time to sign up for this plan. At the risk of jinxing myself again, after realizing how close death is to us all every single day, I will be setting this plan up on the Oct 1.
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