How it works?
Go through seven topics related to the end of life.
Fill in your preferences.
At the end, you will get a complete list of your last wishes.
Until you share your list, nobody can see it.
Your data is safe. You can always change your preferences and generate a new list.
You can delete your account at any time.
You will get a unique link to your list, which you can share.
You can send it out to selected e-mail addresses or share on social networks.
Sharing is not obligatory. You can also print your list or save it for yourself only.
You can choose which parts you want to share
with your family and friends and which can go public.
You can label any part of the list as private.
Then you get two different lists - one including the private parts and one without them.
It's up to you which one you will share with whom.
1. My music
Listen to the most popular songs and compositions played at Czech funerals. If you don’t let your nearest and dearest know that you would prefer something else, this is what they will play at yours too. Simply choose your favourites on YouTube and add them to your playlist.
2. My clothes
"The tailor makes the man " – even after death. Your sartorial choices will stay with you until the very end. So decide how to dress – choose from the list below and then describe which pieces from your wardrobe to use.
Tip
Relatives usually dress their dear departed in the most formal attire they can find, such as a suit that the person last wore at their grandchild’s college graduation ceremony, instead of a favourite T-shirt, a sweater that the grandma knitted herself, or grandpa’s fishing trousers, i.e. clothes in which they used to feel best or that best express their personality. Do not let yourself be deceived that it is somehow inappropriate to get buried with bare feet. You can even be naked if you feel like it. You can also get buried with your favourite personal items that are precious to you. The only thing that you should not take to your grave is toxic waste – not that anyone would.
3. My funeral
What is my funeral going to be like? And what about the days after?
Tip
Funerals that you may have attended so far were likely rather similar. But even so, there is no prescribed format that you necessarily have to follow. Place and time, the music, decorations, order of proceedings – every last farewell can be unique. There are some limitations, though. If you want to be buried in the soil, in many countries you will have to limit your choices to registered burial grounds. You can usually have your ashes scattered anywhere, though, as long as you receive the landowner’s consent. If you are a DIY enthusiast or an environmentalist, you may be interested in natural internment. You can get buried under a tree, at a natural cemetery, in an eco-friendly wicker or wool-fleece coffin. Or you can opt for a biodegradable urn containing flower or tree seeds.
5. My funeral card
A death notice can be much more than a piece of paper pinned to a notice board in your building or at the village square. Here is the place to design your own. You may also list the persons you wish to send it to.
Tip
Death notices are depressingly uniform. Most of the times, relatives have them done at the funeral home; the bereaved might be able to pick a particular verse, and add their names to the notice. We dare say that it wouldn’t take most of us 5 minutes to put together a death notice in a text editor. So why not actually do it? Here are some suggestions: Does it really have to be done in black and white? Does there have to be a sign of the cross? Why not your favourite photo? Could there be some kind of a personal message instead of a generic quote? If you don’t feel up to designing your own death notice, you surely have talented friends who will be honoured to be charged with this task.
6. My fears
Admitting fear is the first step on the way to getting rid of it. I get scared whenever I think of dying. How about you? What are you afraid of?
What others are afraid of
I fear for the people I love.
I’m afraid because I don’t know what the future will bring. I fear I won’t manage to accomplish everything I’ve planned.
What are you afraid of?
Tip
A study performed by researchers at the University of Los Angeles, published in the Psychological Science journal, proves that talking about our fears and concerns is the best way to fight them. Not that you have to share your innermost fears with scientists; just admit them to yourself, and then share them with others. Showing your fears may also help the people around you realize what it is that they fear.
7. My last wish
If there is anything you would like to say, this is your last chance.
All of my life, I’ve been following this principle…
I don’t want you to forget…
I would also like to…
Tip
The My Stuff section provides a brief explanation concerning your last will; that is, how to proceed if you want your possessions to come into the right hands. However, your last wishes may also concern things such as medical care. You can draft an advance directive to express your consent or refusal regarding any medical procedures in case you are no longer capable of expressing them when they come to affect you – if, for example, you are unconscious or suffering from dementia. You may use an advance directive to tell the doctors whether you want a blood transfusion or not; whether you wish for continued life support; whether you wish to donate organs. Such a wish may also designate a person that you authorize to make such decisions on your behalf.