I I met a man on the elevator at school. He carried the plans for his tombstone. Yes. His project for sculpture class was to create a monument to commemorate his life. I wondered what it looked like, but had no opportunity to look at his plans in our short elevator ride. And I wondered. What would I create for myself?
I have a two-page spread in our vacation scrapbook of a Mayan Cemetery at Xcaret. These are no ordinary American style tombstones. They are artistic monuments, elaborately planned and executed. Some look like houses, or an entire village. Many are churches, some colorful, some more somber. Many have a cross of one kind or another. A very intricate jeweled cross for a headstone caught my eye because in the middle of the grave was a lone liquor bottle set in cement.
I wondered. . . A recovered alcoholic who had given his heart to God? An optimistic family who couldn't resist adding the bottle. Was the bottle someone's angry gesture? Or a testament to God's saving grace?
On another plot a huge rustic cross was held up by a large tractor tire...cemented in. A mechanic? Or killed by a tractor or truck. Or was the tire just a handy stand for the cross? And a very elaborately painted colorful plot bespoke the artist.
So. . .what would I want as a symbol of my life? Or what would my family choose? What of my life will my loved ones celebrate?
And you? How would you symbolize your greatest accomplishments?
Food for thought.
And....better yet...it's not too late....I'm thinking about it.
