A Lovely Send-Off

I'm in the midst of a happy task -- assembling family geneaology records for a cousin in Maryland.  Her grandmother is Rosalie "Podie" Sasscer, my father's sister and my late aunt.  Faithful readers may recall a recent post mentioning a small bust of Robert E. Lee given to me by Aunt Podie.  That's what prompted my cousin to ask if I could send her a copy of my dad's rather voluminous documentation.  I'm glad to do it.  It's been a pleasant experience for me to revisit the pages of our family history.

While photocopying and scanning this and that, I came across a hand-written note from Podie to my father, sent shortly before her death in 1994.  It's her instructions for her funeral, and it's a classic.  Sounds like a lovely send-off, and I share it here for the record:


Dear Jerry,

I am sending you this; also, I am attaching a copy to my will.

A synopsis of my funeral:  25 people at my house.  God and life-after-death are not to be mentioned.  A string quartet will play two beautiful pieces; someone will read something from Keats.  That's it!  Total time:  20 minutes.

Then cocktails with great hors-d'oeuvres; luncheon with Crab Imperial, old ham, etc.  A great day!  I'm really sorry I will have to miss it.

If you all do not carry out my wishes pre-cise-ly, ex-act-ly, you are going to be haunted by green goblins and things that go bump in the night.

Happy Days!

Love, 

Rosalie