My Immortality

When my daughters mother in law passed away she had called me to give me the details of where she would be laid out and when the funeral will be. She mentioned they had had a hard time finding a suitable picture to be displayed. That night I went for one of the services.

After the service was over and we were all seated at the tables for drinks I turned to my two oldest and said " You all better get a good picture taken of me now so you won't have a problem later". My sons reply was his usual" MUM!" plus his frown and my daughters reply was to slap me on the arm.

Here in Asia especially amongst the Chinese race the subject of death is taboo. Mention it to my mother in law and she will phi phi phi you up and down. It is a subject not to be talked about especially if it is about someone still alive. Now I am a practical person and also a free thinker. I do not follow any religion even though I had been baptised an Anglican. My family was never big on religion and my father had given up on it a long time ago, so it was not really practiced in my house. I went to Sunday school as a child the first time, when I was very small. My mother had sent me. I do not know why as they never went to church themselves, only for weddings, and funerals. After a while I think my mother got tired of sending me. The second time I went was when I was around 10 or 11 years old.

We had an aunt from my fathers side of the family who used to pass down all her daughters old clothes to me and my sister. So one day she passed us a box of stuff that had contained 4 or 5 hats. The type of hat only to be worn to church, so me and my sister, (and we also managed to rope in one of our female cousins), had decided to go to Sunday school so we could wear the hats. Of course it didn't last long because we were too lazy to go to church on Sunday.

My husbands family are Taoists. So my children have been brought up mainly with that religion. As they have gotten older in one way or another they have all decided what religion they wish to follow although my hubsands family pushes Taoism down their throats and mine. I have stood steadfastly and still remain a free thinker.

After the kids father died he was buried at Fairy Park. It is a double plot and there is a place for me to go when I pass. I tell my kids not to spend a lot of money on my funeral as we all know Chinese funerals cost a bomb, and as my son puts it the Chinese are the only people who can make a profit out of death. Every once in a while when the subject is brought up (usually by me) I tell the kids that when I die they should just throw me in a cardboard box and bury me in the back yard. This always warrants a MUM! from my son and the look of distaste from my daughters.

So now the subject of the picture has come up. I have decided I do not want a picture of myself looking old and haggy. I want a picture of myself looking young and fresh. When I asked my kids what kind of ceremony would they have for me, my son said MUM! and my daughter said "Ma we'll bury you Chinese style ok". It's ok with me I'm not particular. Hell for all I care they could have me embalmed sit me in a corner with a beer in one hand and a cigarette hanging out of my mouth.