Circle of Joy and Sorrow

Everything that exists is in a manner the seed of that which will be. -Marcus Aurelius

Saturday, February 24, 2007

The (Female) Body Politic

Now I should not have been watching all the court room drama over the body of Anna Nicole Smith, I'll agree to that one right off. Plenty of other things were more important, right now down to ensuring I have clean and matching socks. However... I couldn't resist. Blame it on MSNBC doing continuing coverage of the whole week long affair, or the shade of lavender Anna Nicole's estranged mother chose to wear. So watch I did, although I had to mute and gag on several occasions. To recap for some of you, Anna Nicole is a tabloid trashgirl and a former Playboy model, whose son died last fall and who has a newborn baby girl Dannylynne. Horrid name. Anyways. Anna Nicole died of undetermined reasons a week ago (still no official report) and there is a 4-way circus court case over who is going to bury her body and where Anna Nicole will be buried. Her current (maybe husband) lawyer boyfriend wants her buried in the Bahamas next to her son, in the plot that Anna Nicole bought for herself. Her ex-boyfriend insists that he is the father of Dl. and should decide, being Dl. legal guardian. The lawyer boyfriend insists Dl. is his daughter but won't submit to a paternal test. The estranged Texan mother insists that Anna Nicole should be buried in Texas... and the body of Anna Nicole's son should be exhumed and reburied in Texas also. Crazy. There is also a court appointed guardian of Dl. who won the lottery Thursday, when Anna Nicole's deteriorating body forced the judge to give up the spotlight and render the decision to Dl.'s court guardian.

End Result: Anna Nicole will be buried in the Bahamas next to her son. After the Texan mother looses her appeals, which she began filing the very next morning. The ex-boyfriend and the lawyer boyfriend have made noises about doing the funeral jointly, for the sake of Dl. Then they will fight over the baby and the vast fortune that is now hers. Why was this drama so addictive and why did I find myself caring about a woman I would have walked across the street to avoid? I suppose it was the thought of having this judge deciding the fate of my body. Although the facts stand that Anna Nicole was estranged from her mother, and had fled an abusive family situation as a teenager, the judge fell in love with her crocodile teary mother. The judge took it as an opportunity to rant about how no one appreciates the stress and pain of being in law enforcement (Anna Nicole's mother was a highway deputy). He ranted on and on, with Anna Nicole's mother just sitting on the witness stand agreeing. He was deciding questions that could be asked and doing the examinations and crosses himself, practically. When one of the lawyers asked the estranged Texan Mother if she had ever made money selling information about Anna Nicole to the tabloids, the judge insisted that no one could imply anyone had financial motives in that trial or face damnation and hell fire. How could they treat that sweet little (abusive and money-hungry) old lady like that?

How indeed. It's gotten me to thinking. Beyond a $10,000 life insurance policy through the government, I have no plans for my own death and no will at all. Of course, I really have nothing at all to will away, except a Ford with 156,000+ miles on it, and a spoiled cat. My mother has agreed verbally with me that if I die before she does, she won't arrange a Christian funeral for me behind my back.. corpse.. whatever. I had always thought that such things would be handled by my coven, but I left them over a year ago following the death of my student Foxglove. She had joined a Universal Unitarian Church which accepted wiccan members attending with their Christian families, and it's a really nice church with a really nice pastor. Her parents had her funeral there, and I spoke. Lovely, all of it. But I don't know what I want done. Organ donation and cremation, certainly, none of that bothers me. I suppose what leaves me trembling is facing how easily by existence will just be erased, people will forget, delete me off email lists and phone books. One of the things I most regret is that I never saved a voice message from Foxglove, and the only pictures I have are the ones I started taking after she got sick. I never imagined how important mere pictures could ever become, until I have none to remember her before her fate was clear.

1 Comments:

At 1:40 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hello Olive I hope everything is going well for you I have almost finished my first Novel and am getting married in Nov thank you for the book It was wonderful and very helpful I would like to return it at some point. You can email me at twofacedhag@yahoo.com if you would like it back. Otherwise good luck in everything you do and be very blessed! William

 

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