plotting out my mom's future

In the last year or so my mom has begun to get her affairs in order...and it's kind of terrifying to me.  The talk of wills and living trusts and the occasional topic of where she'd like to be buried, it's a lot to take in.  I crack a lot of inappropriate jokes to ease my tension. 

(Image brought to by the artist Josh Agle...aka SHAG)

Very recently she began actually pricing cemetery plots.  What I've come to realize is that death is very expensive.  This last week we went to visit my father's mausoleum and my grandparents' cemetery.  Yes, I have a very small living family.  Upon visiting my grandparents we wandered into a garden, a pretty nice one (if you leave out the part about being located in a cemetery...and that it was filled with cremated people).  There were trees, flowers, a fountain and small memorial markers.

My mom made her decision...she would like to be put to rest here.  We visited the mortuary together and left with a "double" under a tree, near the fountain.  When the time comes, I have a space too (if need be).  So somehow I now have a permanent resting place.

As awful as it is that I will eventually have to come to terms with losing my mom who is one of my very dearest friends, I guess that it's one less thing to worry about.  It's still terrible to think about though, I don't know how I will even begin to cope.  Here's hoping that it won't be for a very very (very very very) long time.

Anyone else out there with older parents?  How do you handle the eventuality of it all?