Funny you should mention it...I had a conversation about this very thing with my son this afternoon. Of course he was like, "Mom, you're not planning to die or anything, are you?" But I insisted on clueing him in on some things I want, such as a Catholic funeral and to be cremated. I told him I want a funeral Mass just like his Dad's, with the same songs and scripture readings which all have to do with resurrection. I also want his brother to do the eulogy because he did my husband's, and he was wonderful.

It's too bad death is still one of the last taboo subjects that nobody wants to talk about. It's going to happen to each and every one of us, so why the difficulty? I never really thought about my own mortality until my husband died, but now that he's gone and I'm turning 60, the topic does come up every now and then. It needs to. I don't want to leave my kids unprepared, not that I'm planning to make my exit anytime soon, but I am getting older and I'm not in the best of health either mentally or physically. My parents also died young (59 and 66). There's cancer on one side of my family and heart disease on the other...but I don't worry too much about it because knowing me, I'll probably do something stupid like trip over my dog and choke to death on a spoonful of peanut butter. Haha!