Mom and Dad had previously made all arrangements for both their funerals. It is a morbid but necessary ritual older parents do out of love for their children.
Of course as one of their children I showed no interest in these details and spent this time making bad jokes about the modern day "circle of life" and how it now includes moving from Jersey to South Florida, going out to dinner at 4pm and planning your funeral!
In the end Dad could have provided no better "gift" than the thoughtfulness of allievating my mom, brother, sister and I from having to make difficult decisions during a difficult time.
When I say all details for Dad's funeral were finalized, I mean all details, right down to the number of cars needed to take family members to the service.
Mom and Dad secured plots years ago at the new South Florida National Verteran's Cemetery (SFNVC). The only possible variable no one could have planned was for Dad to die on the Wednesday before a national holiday followed by a weekend when the cemetery would be "closed".
Because of this we were forced to have a memorial service on Sunday and delay the burial until Monday. Thankfully the SFNVC was able to take us early in the morning on Monday - it would have been much better for everyone and especially Mom if we could have done everything the same day - but I believe we pulled through it together thanks to our Lakeridge Greens friends, close family friends and each other.
