Not trying to Debbie Downer your thread, and hopefully I won't. I came out to my family when I got word that my mother was dying. I told my sisters then so there wouldn't be any surprises, or any expectations of me manning it up for family. They accepted me as their sister immediately.
So the inevitable happens and Mom passes away. My sister flies up to Boston and I meet her at the airport. We stand by the carousel but her luggage never comes out. She goes over to Lost Luggage and the guy says "We're terribly sorry. There is a reimbursement, but we can usually reconnect you with your baggage. May I ask what was in the bag?"
My sister: "Two sets of human cremains for a funeral tomorrow."
Dude almost fell out of his chair!
He got right on the phone and rattled cages until he knew her bag was on the next plane to Boston. An hour later, we're back at the baggage carousel. She says it's a blue bag. First one out is black, and some kid says "Dad, there's mine, but there's something on it." Next bag out is my sisters, covered in white powder. Yup, the ashes were leaking. We grabbed that bag and got out of there laughing like hyenas!
US National Cemeteries allow a short inscription on the vault cover. We decided to go with this:
Hugs, Devlyn
