eleahy, Thu, October 29th, 2009
Growing up it seemed I had the only post war, middle class, mother who still tried to haggle with storeowners. She fed a family of seven on $100 a month. She drove to a farm to purchase cracked eggs at a reduced cost. She didn’t buy any junk food except for the occasional giant value pack of cookies. She loved to get bread at the Arnold Bread Outlet Store. We called it, “The used bread store.” My brother Steve joked, “She drove so far to get day old bread that by the time she got home it was two days old.”
The culmination of the quest for the best deal led her to Upstate Medical Center, where she donated not only her body, but also, my father’s to science. Of course, they don’t have to go until they pass away. As I understand it, Upstate gets to use your remains in research, and at the end of a year, you are cremated and sent home - free of charge. “Such a deal!”
Luckily, my parents are still with us and will celebrate their 62 wedding anniversary this November.
But also, when the time does arrive, the ultimate plan is for their offspring to take their ashes up in a plane and sprinkle them together over the Jersey Shore where they both grew up. The idea is that my mother didn’t like to fly and my father didn’t like the beach - a beach bunny and a pilot - compromising to the end.
Now, who do we know with a pilot’s license that might be up for a free ride?
If you are over the age of 18, you can donate your body to science by contacting www.upstate.edu/cdb/donor/; or regular mail: SUNY Upstate Medical University, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, 750 East Adams Street, Syracuse, New York 13210; or call (315) 464-4348.
