It's nice to be prepared, but is this weird?

[babylonsister]

Roland Burris's Monument to Me

Roland Burris, the man Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich picked to succeed Barack Obama in the Senate, might get to etch another accolade into the monument he built for himself if this appointment goes through.

You see, Burris has already charted his esteemed career path on the walls of his future grave in Chicago's Oak Woods Cemetery (pictured here). Beneath a seal of the state of Illinois, Burris lists his accomplishments to date, and there seems to be plenty of room above the bench to mention his career in the Senate - if he has one.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/thecrypt/1208/Roland_Burriss_Monument_to_Me.html?showall

[Veritas_et_Aequitas]

1. Yes. That is weird. And morbid.

[bunnies]

2. My Grandmother has had her headstone up for at least 20 years.

She was afraid that we would 'mess it up'. Odd family, mine.

[MiniMe]

3. Is his wife still alive?

[babylonsister]

5. She seems to be...

Burris is married to Berlean M. Burris, Ph.D., and is the father of two adult children, Dr. Rolanda S. Burris, and Roland W. Burris II, Esq. He also has a grandson, Roland T. Burris.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_Burris

[MiniMe]

11. Then it is weird

A lot of surviving spouses have both headstones carved at the same time with just the date of death left to be filled in for the surviving spouse. That way the headstones match exactly. Doing this before a spouse dies is just weird.

[polmaven]

23. Rolanda and Roland II - ???

Not much of an ego there, eh?

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

12. It looks like there is more writing on the tomb to the right

like maybe the wife has died.

As for people having tombstones all ready--my grandfather's family had tombstones for everyone in the family plot since 1939. The last person interred was Grandma in 1978. Mom is following the practice--she has bronze tombstones for her brother and husband and herself, and says she'll save room for my cremains as well.

This tomb may appear pretentious, but I've seen worse--and with no death dates on the grave, so I assume the people have it ready but aren't using it yet.

[Vickers]

22. Oops, I didn't see your post when I posted mine below.

I've tried zooming in but it gets to blurry to make out the text.

Could be her maiden name, or some other stuff?

:shrug:

[Vickers]

21. If you zoom in on the picture, it looks like her side has an ending date.

:(

[babylonsister]

26. I can't find any info on her ending. Can you read what it says? I

just found this, written yesterday.

http://jamesedyrn.wordpress.com/2008/12/31/roland-burris-was-appointed-by-gov-blagojevich-to-fill-barack-obamas-senate-seat-but-mr-obama-is-against-the-governors-appointment/

Mr. Burris was born in Centralia, Ilinois on Aug. 3, 1931. He obtained a B.A. in political science from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and a J.D. in 1963 from Howard University. He is married to Berlean M. Burris, Ph.D.

[BlueJazz]

4. If it was up to me, He'd be buried here >>>

http://www.chss.iup.edu/kpatrick/Cartomb/Junk%20yard,%20S%20of%20Hollidaysburg,%20PA-3,%20Nov%202005.JPG

[Historic NY]

6. To be remember in death for what he wasn't in life!

Strange....very strange. Who uses academic titles & degrees. Sure sounds like a desperate maneuver to be remembered. He seems to be afraid of being missed.

[Atman]

7. I think it's weird having a big-ass monument to your bad self like that.

Jesus Christ...what a waste of marble. Ego is a crazy thing. Cook me to a fine powder and scatter me in the waves. Save the land for the living.

.

[babylonsister]

13. I'm floating on waves, too. Hopefully somewhere warm.

:D

[notesdev]

8. Ok that's just creepy

There's something mentally wrong with someone who builds a tomb like that for himself.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

9. Well, the monument answers any questions about his taste in art. NeoKitsch.

aka: Just plain ugly.

[FSogol]

10. All Hail Pharaoh Burris!

:beer:

[crispini]

14. Ok, that's totally bizarre. nt

[Mojorabbit]

15. Nothing weird about it at all

My parents had everything ready to go. When my dad passed last year it was a blessing my mom did not have to deal with all that in the midst of her grief as my pop had already taken care of the details.
The worst thing you can do is try to deal with coffin buying, grave buying, monument buying right after losing your mate. It is hard enough to deal with obtaining death certificates, with insurance companies, arranging memorial services, etc after a death of a loved one.

[Orsino]

20. ...except perhaps for the size of the ego and monument.

Both seem a tad inflated to me.

[Mojorabbit]

25. True that. nt

[Bucky]

16. Buying a headstone in advance is a smart move. But this set up could use a little more pomp

I think he needs a cathedral spire and a gator-filled moat to keep the riff raff out... and maybe a couple of giant bell towers manned by hunchbacks. This is entirely lacking in pomposity.

[babylonsister]

17. Bwhahaha! Yea, that should do it!

:rofl:

[lunatica]

27. LOL! n/t

[acmavm]

18. Prepaid funeral expenses are a good thing. Erecting a monument to

oneself is just so weird. Maybe if the guy could have gotten a little more room, he'd have built himself a pyramid.

[el_bryanto]

19. I'm planning on having a 50 foot statue of myself built

And when I die, circuitry within the statue will cause it to come to life and run amuck.

Still a few kinks in the system, though. Right now it just comes to life and passes out cookies, which is not really the intended affect.

Bryant

[lunatica]

24. I'm sure St. Peter and Jesus are impressed.

Is it religious graffiti or is it a resume? I know! It's the writing on the wall!

How biblical!

[Javaman]

28. So is that like are cemetery resume?

:rofl:

[Historic NY]

30. Yeah ,your hired for a permanent position....When can you start?

:hide:

[ensho]

29. this settled it for me - he should not go to D.C.

he has personal issues.

[Historic NY]

31. Maybe we can get DU to personalize our Tombstones.

[firedupdem]

32. Well Damn......I've seen some before without the ending date

but nothing that came close to this. Different strokes for different folks I guess. I hope my kids put all the nice things I've done on mine...including how I took them to the park and made pancakes almost every morning. Nice...

[Starry Messenger]

33. It's a little too understated--he might need one of these:

Every time I read "Trail Blazer" on the Burris monument I crack up. Who calls themselves that?!

[MilesColtrane]

34. Looks like an eternal bus stop.

Just needs a newspaper vending machine and a guy with a cart selling pretzels.

[hedgehog]

35. It's an old tradition.

[ColbertWatcher]

36. I find it weird that this is the only monument to Burris' alleged ego.

Or is this the first example of an alleged ego?

Will the GOP-controlled media bless us with more examples!?

[LeftishBrit]

37. Why doesn't he just get someone to build him an enormous pyramid?