What To Do When I'm Gone by Suzy Hopkins & Hallie Bateman

 

Despite having Kindle devices to read from and multiple subscriptions to chose from, there is always an irresistible pull into a bookstore. My city, Bangalore, has one of the oldest bookshops called Blossoms. As my little man & I walked passed by the bookshop this afternoon, I was at once attracted to postcards being sold at the entrance. Why stop at postcards, when you can get much more! Few steps up and we were greeted by high rise piles of books. Sheer joy!

After much browsing and constantly fighting the urge to buy a hard copy as against finding a digital copy, I bought myself the book in the picture - What To Do When Im Gone. 

You may not believe me when I say, that I have thought about similar topics around the theme. What to do when I am gone. I know for sure, I do not want yearly rituals to remember me by. I believe, rituals become boring as the years pass and most often than not we find ways to avoid it. We are too scared of ostracization hence don't always speak our minds. I would not like my family to ever feel pressurized by the rules of rituals. I would rather them spend a good day in my name. Probably order in some food, call in friends, bring out all my crochet work and decorate the tables with them... 

This book touches a chord. It is not sad. It is not a happy one either. It just is. It's just a book that a mother has written to and for her daughter in the event of her death. This sweetly illustrated book can be read in less than an hour. It has a set of instructions of what a daughter should do in the days after her mother has passed away. This book holds good for anyone losing a dear one. The book makes you think and reminds you that you don't have to make life harder than it already is or will become. It teaches you that grief, pain, sorrow are passing clouds and you have to just sit by the window and watch it inch away from you in painstaking slowness. 

Funny one liners on what kind of obituary one could write brings a smile. There was one befitting me too! I have stuck a post it on it that says, "that's so me!"  

There is one chapter on how to bake brownies. The ending is simply the truth - 

"Brew a pot of good coffee while you're at it (baking), and figure out who you'll share these brownies with. Make sure it is not someone who's going to carp about fat and calories; that's the last thing you need. Look for a person who lights up at the mere mention of homemade brownies." 

And there's another gem - "It's not as if when you drop twenty pounds the world will be right and will remain right as long as the twenty pounds stay off... I see happiness as contentment with what you're doing right now. That may be nothing at all, or something ambitious, or something in between. It's a sense of not wanting to be anywhere else."

I would encourage everyone to read this sweet instruction manual, if I may take the liberty to call it so. It is practical and true. And I would surely encourage everyone to sit back and think what set of instructions would you leave behind for your loved ones. 

This one is surely for the coffee table book corner.