We’d be lying if we said we hadn’t ever pondered over what it might be like to pass away. You know, is there an afterlife? How many people will come to your funeral, that kind of stuff.
But, while wistfully thinking about life after death is a fairly normal – if a little morbid – thing to do, one woman has taken it a whole lot further, by organising her own funeral. Except, she’s still alive.
In fact, Mayra Alonzo was so eager to know what it felt like to die that she forced her nearest and dearest to mourn for her at a fake funeral, where she lay in a rented coffin for hours pretending to be dead.
The 59-year-old, from the Dominican Republic, staged the ‘rehearsal’ funeral, if you will, back in April, in the city of Santiago, where she dressed head to toe in white and even stuffed cotton buds up her nose to emanate a real corpse.
The weirdest part about it all? Her family and friends actually went along with it, taking it in turns to walk up to the casket and cry (presumably) fake tears and saying goodbye to their beloved Mayra, who wasn’t actually going anywhere, just yet.
They all sat around enjoying food and drinks and recalling their favourite memories with her, while she laid there and listened, which come to think of it, would be a pretty good ego boost to say the least.
Mayra spent a total of around $1,000 (£710) on the big day, which is obviously a damn sight cheaper than a regular funeral, but that’s likely down to the fact that she didn’t actually have to buy a coffin, pay for a burial or a cremation or for a headstone. You know, all the things required for an actual funeral.
Anyway, the day turned out to be a roaring success in Mayra’s eyes, who described it as a “dream come true,” however she did offer a few pearls of wisdom for her loved ones.
She warned them not to die anytime soon because apparently being in a coffin isn’t all that pleasant. Every day is a school day, eh?
You can understand wanting to hear your loved ones gush about all the amazing memories and how much they’ll miss you, but somehow we reckon there’s a way to do that without pretending to be dead.