Living Will

I’ve been meaning to write about this topic for a few weeks now, but recent news from my mom inspired me to finally get to it. My parents put me in charge of the “Do Not Resuscitate” portion of their wills (obviously implying that I’m an emotional robot, a la Michael Bluth, and will have no problem ending their lives, if need be). I’m a big fan of the idea behind wills, probably because I like having control of my situation and who gets my stuff. Also, my feelings about funerals are much the same as my feelings about weddings: unnecessary waste of money. In light of how practical I think wills are, why do we all wait so long to make one?
I can’t be the only person who has though about what would happen to my stuff in case of sudden death. I’m sure, by default, it would go to my parents, but I have very specific ideas about who I want to have what (I won’t go into that here because I don’t want to make friends jealous/feel unloved. You are all loved, indeed). Being a packrat and obsessive purchaser of books, CDs, and DVDs, there are certain people I feel have the correct respect for those certain categories. Then there are my guitars. I’m not going to let just anyone have them. And my various technologies. There’s at lot at stake. And no offense to my parents, but they wouldn’t know the first thing about how I’d want it distributed (actually, I’m giving one directive. Addison gets all of my horror movies so he can finally get over his fears and enjoy life. Only after he has watched them all can he pass any on he no longer wants [to the person of my choice]).

Perhaps one of the big issues here is that, though I don’t believe in an afterlife, I still would like to lord over something after my death. Those who know me know how territorial I can be (don’t mess with my food). Plus, I need to make sure that people aren’t just taking things because they want to have them and not for real enjoyment. I can only assume that everyone wants a piece of me. I’ll allocate a grab bag pile of stuff to be culled from for those who feel slighted.

Some may feel it’s morbid to discuss this. Some may even feel they are jinxing themselves if they make a will at such a young age. I view it as both practical and a fun thought exercise (and I do love my thought exercises). The only thing really stopping me from doing it is the annoyance of going to a lawyer to get it all settled. Who has the time for that sort of thing?
This image came up in an image search for "living will." I don't know why, but it seems somewhat appropriate.