planning the memorial

I’m dying. At least I feel like I am as I lie here struck down very sudden-like with the flu. I should have seen it coming. I mean I was rubbing shoulders (literally) with the masses along the Vegas Strip just to go play cheap blackjack. I was hugging on so many other bloggers. I found myself on the plane home in a row that was sandwiched between the harried mother of two devil children who all were hacking up a lung and the hapless, college kid who tossed his cookies right there in his seat. BlogHer “Ebola” hit hard post conference according to my sympathetic pal, Kari. So of course it would follow that there would be a SITScation Swine outbreak. I intend to blame all typos on that because I can scarcely see the screen on my laptop. At least THIS time I have an excuse.

Meanwhile, I do feel like I am dying and I’m afraid that my family will be in trouble.

We are THAT family that talks about THOSE things like feminine hygiene products, S-E-X…if it is tabu or awkward, we will discuss it freely. Case in point, just last week two of my girls and I discussed and shared my final wishes with two of their friends. Why? A Lynrd Skynrd song came up on my iPod playlist while we were driving to the Hayward BART station. Of course we would discuss mom’s memorial service. It makes perfect sense! In the car, Holly turns to Danielle and Taylor to inform them that when I die I want “Freebird” playing at my memorial during a slide show of pictures of me living life with the people I love.

Before Danielle and Taylor can even begin to wonder why we were discussing my death and memorial, Holly turrns to me and exclaims, “Mom, that is going to be a REALLY short slide show because we have like NO pictures of you! People are going to think thast you had a sad life if we show the pictures that we do have.”

“Well, that is because I’M the one always behind the camera. Maybe I need to start taking a ton of “MySpace” pictures like you kids do. Or maybe you guys should start taking pictures of me. You DO have cameras that I bought you.“

“Wait! You have your camera, mom. I’ll take some pictures now.”

“Now?”

“Sure, right now.”

And so began the “Mom’s Memorial Photo Shoot” while I drove along the 580 interstate. Let me just say that I love having my picture being taken while I am driving. Here is the result of that photo shoot.