The gravestone of the future...

Image via Wikipedia

Somehow the NFO and I got on the subject of what should be listed on my gravestone. It was my idea, I'm sure, and clearly something I've thought about before.

It was Father's Day and maybe I was thinking about my legacy, I don't know.

We were laughing about it and Tonka asked us what we were discussing.

We are very upfront with our kids about death and dying...we don't want to scare them, of course, but we want them to know that it's a part of life. After all, parenting is really planned obsolescence, right?

Eventually, the kids got into it...yes, this sounds crazy, I know.

We used to have a contest where I would say "Tonka (or Paco)..." , they would respond "Yes?" and I'd say "I love you!!" and then "I won."

Soon, it evolved into them saying "I love you!" instead of "Yes?"

Eventually, we agreed that no matter who said it first, it was a tie.

So, we said, "hey, what if the gravestone said, 'I love you! Tie!'

That got a big laugh.

Of course, we realized that gravestones of the future would be very different than those of today.

A few items on the wish list

1. GPS chip, so people can easily find it and not have to wander around a cemetery looking at old maps
2. a digital, ticker like sign so you can have multiple messages "Father, Husband, 'I love you! Tie!', etc.
3. maybe even sports, weather, and stock information
4. personalized messages based on the RFID tags in the phones of those visiting you "hey Tonka, good to see you." or "Paco...please call your mother."

When I suggested a webcam, however, the NFO shut down the conversation.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Bonus Points and Avoiding Sibling Rivalry (jer979.blogspot.com)
• Parenting as Planned Obsolesence (jer979.blogspot.com)
• Transformations of a Weekend... (jer979.blogspot.com)