So, I've been watching "Six Feet Under" lately. Very morbid show. Very good show. Before I started watching this, being dead really freaked me out. Now? Not so much.

I mean, I love life! I don't really want to die any time soon. But I used to think I wanted to be cremated, because the thought of being eaten by bugs and worms and rotting was scary. I don't think I'm scared of that any more. After all -- I'll be dead.

Death is a natural part of life, and in that vein, I have decided that I don't want to be cremated. Nor do I want to be embalmed. No. I want to have my organs donated, and then I want to have a green burial - no casket, no tomb. Just wrapped in a blanket and put into the ground with flowers on me, and local stones on my grave. I don't want a tombstone, either - just a carpet of stones. I'd like it if my family dug my grave and buried me, and I want them to share memories of me. Good memories, bad ones, even, if they want. I think it would be beautiful if someone sang "Dona Nobis Pachem," which means "Let there be Peace," in Latin.

I wrote a sort of poem I'd like said, even though it doesn't rhyme.

A message to those I leave behind
I bequeath myself to the dirt, to nourish the grass I love
I give my body to the earth, which nurtured me all of my days
If you want me again, look for me beneath your feet
You will not see my face any more, but I am with you in your memories

Know that I lived my life as everyone does, with mistakes and epiphanies
While I lived, I loved, and I learned, and I laughed
And these are the things that make life worth living for a human
If you wish to honor me, do the same

Laugh at the world, and all its absurdities
Laugh for the joy of smelling sweet air
Laugh for the salty tears you spill
Laugh for the sake of feeling laughter in your throat

Learn of the world, and all its wonders
Learn how to be kind to every living thing
Learn how to be at peace with your own self
Learn for the sake of learning

Love the world, and all its creatures, great and small
Love is a verb – to act in a loving way is to love
Love other people and your life will be meaningful
Love yourself and your life will be peaceful

Do not tell lies about me, do not tell half-truths about me
Do not glorify the human being that I was
Only remember me as I was, and I will stay with you in your memories
And this is immortality enough for me