Do you remember the television commercial a few years that asked what you wanted on your tombstone? That one, of course, was for pizza, but we should think about what we want on our physical tombstone when we die. Some people think this is morbid, a bit like writing your own obituary, but if you want things a certain way, you should take care of them yourselves.
Our tombstones will be around a lot longer than we were, so why not introduce your descendants to you in a way that will give them some information about you? Don’t have “Mother” or “Father” as your only message to the future. I’ve seen some really inventive stones, and even if I don’t know who the people were, I appreciate the thoughtfulness that went into the creation of such memories.
Some things I consider to be necessities on our stones. First, is full dates of birth and death, not just the years,, and names of the people, not just initials. It is also nice for women to include their maiden names. If the stone is for a couple, the date of marriage is great to have.
I’ve seen the places of birth, marriage, and death on a few stones, too, and this helps. In the case of our family, the places would be enlightening because our descendants might not think to look overseas for my wife’s birth, or for our marriage.
Activities or achievements are easily represented on our stones, too. I’m planning on having a Peace Corps symbol above my name, and possibly the Knights of Columbus symbol. We are thinking of a Philippine flag for my wife. Military, police and other first responders, or doctors should have note of these life experiences on their stones. Some people, seeing these notations, will stop for a moment and silently thank the person for their service to others.
Other people are sometimes included on tombstones. My parents included my sisters and me on the back of theirs. One family in Portland has carried this much farther, and someone will be happy to know the facts. Not only did they include the children’s names, but, inside of heart shapes, the names of all their grandchildren. I enjoy visiting the Schrauben stone to see if new grandchildren have been added since the last time I visited.
Upcoming Genealogy Classes
Would you like to learn more about how to do your genealogy correctly? There are right ways, and wrong ways, to gather and save our information. I teach an eight-week class that shows how to do things correctly.
I took a similar class from Shirley Hodges many years ago, and she steered me on a better path. It has made a lot of difference, and my genealogy is much more accurate because of the class she taught.
My class will be at the Delta 39ers location at 4538 Elizabeth Road in Lansing, on Tuesdays starting Sept. 9. There are two sessions possible each Tuesday. One is from 1-3 p.m., while the other is from 6-8 p.m. They charge $32.
The classes will cover everything from interviewing to using free and paid websites to gather information about your families. Military records, the census, vital records, newspapers, land records, and many other ways to find your ancestors will be discussed, with lots of handouts explaining them and other subjects like cemeteries and photography.
If you are interested, please sign up starting Tuesday Aug. 26. You can call 517-484-5600, go online at deltami.gov/parks, or walk into the office from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Mondays-Fridays on or after the first day of registration.
If you want more information before you sign up, you can call the office, or email me at my address below.
One last thing before I go this time — do you have a “black sheep” (or more than one) in your family? I’d love to hear about it. I have one possible candidate, who I’ll write about next time, plus a few who did things “differently.” These people can be some of the more exciting in our stories. Don’t be ashamed of them, because you didn’t cause them to behave the way they did.
— Jim Moses welcomes comments and suggestions at jmosesgen@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on Ionia Sentinel-Standard: Jim Moses: The importance of planning your tombstone
Reporting by Jim Moses, Community Columnist / Ionia Sentinel-Standard
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
