When my husband died in Jan 1998 I reached down to the lower half of his casket to be sure he had his artificial leg along side of him. He did. I touched his stomach it felt like sand or some sort of filling after removal of the intestines. His eyes were sewn shut and his mouth was wired closed; upper gums wired to lower gums. We knew he was about to die. The funeral director told me to get a box with what clothes he will have on in his casket including underpants, t shirt, socks and shoes.His artificial leg was not “redressed. It didn’t need to be. He had his eyeglasses on but his eyes were shut, as I said. He and I wrote down everything he wanted; songs to be sung at the funeral, two days of visitation due to many out of staters arriving, Pall bearers he chose, He wore his beautiful Tan western shirt with the Indian feathers and other designs on the shoulder, his daughter gave him a big turquoise Bola tie and he also wore his jeans and belt with his initial on it. It is what he wanted. He wanted 2 different ministers to speak, I told the people they could put something inside of his casket now, if they wanted, maybe a photo or a note or some trinket. They did. I had a special tape played with one particular song by Emmy Lou Harris :I cried A river” …Very nice. He is buried at the St. Louis Jefferson Barracks Military cemetery…. exactly what he wanted. I took good care of him the last three years of his life, what more could I have done? I had been a hospice nurse for quite a few years and after working with many families all those years, it was finally my own family to plan for but it was all done by the two of us, together. I never regretted a moment.
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