Anne G – Chicago, IL

I don’t want a funeral, I want a party. I don’t want people to mourn. I’d want a band with a woman singing torch songs and dirges. I want Judy Garland to come back and perform! Do I have to clarify this right now? Are you planning to kill me this weekend?

I was planning to donate my organs and then be cremated. But recently, I heard that cremation is terrible for the environment, so now I’m reconsidering. I’ll likely donate my body to help beyond death, like to a hospital.

I’ve heard that at some medical schools they have a ceremony for all the cadavers to honor them. I’m learning more about these things and figuring it out. I’m afraid of the topic because it makes me sad to think about death. Not my own death, but others close to me. It’s loss. It’s a physical loss. To not have someone next to me and being able to talk to them like we are right now.

I don’t need a grave marker. I don’t go and visit a lot of graves, I didn’t grow up visiting people that way. My grandparents were cremated and I helped spread my grandfather’s ashes. My birth father was killed 20 years ago and I’ve only been to see his grave recently, but if I had actually ever known him, I don’t think I’d have needed to visit him.

Side notes:

I believe in souls. But death is hard in general. Even if I’m not close to the person, I feel sorry for the people who were close to them. That’s where I go. But I don’t know what I think happens to people when they die. I think they live on in some spiritual realm, like I know the people who died in my life are still with me, like they are watching over me.

I definitely don’t want to be a crash test dummy.

Age: 37 at time of interview

Religious Affiliation: Catholic

Occupation: ‎Senior Executive Assistant at a financial firm, actor and singer historically (and at heart!)

Location: Grew up in River Forest, IL, lived in New York City and Iowa, now back in Chicago