Tombstone Tuesday -- my own

My own ... that sounds kind of morbid I realize but as often as we go visit cemeteries, have you ever stopped to consider what YOU want YOUR tombstone to look like and what info to include?

Otche spoke the other Sunday about last wishes (his actual talk was to remind everyone that if we did not include him on the visitation list and the "allowed to speak to" list then the doctors and medical staff might not make him - or any other priest - aware of any grave illnesses). It got me thinking.

While my family has all been told what I want, I have not put my wishes in writing. As for my tombstone ... I would like simply my name and stats. I would like my name to include my maiden name so therefore it should read: Jeanne nee Ruczhak Eckman or maybe just hypenate it. I really - even after seeing and visiting as many tombs as I have - have NO clue what kind of stone I would like for myself.

My great grandparents have a rather simple stone:

The only decoration - for lack of a better word - is our cross and praying hands and some ivy. He is on the left and she on his right.

While I have a spot for my husband available next to me, he has not told me his last wishes. At one point he wanted to donate his body to science. Some days I would like to donate him but that is not a feasible Orthodox solution. When we have a funeral Liturgy we will be laid out under the Icon of Christ the Teacher - that same Icon where we were baptized and for many married and where we receive Communion.

I would love to find a way to design something that would include my Orthodoxy, my Slavic heritage and my Irish heritage!

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