LOS ANGELES (dpa) – Those who have enjoyed sending out e-mail during their time on this planet now have the chance to make sure that their electronic messages will keep on being sent, even after they die.
The Website FinalThoughts.com (www.finalthoughts.com) offers its customers the opportunity to save electronic messages to be sent out to friends and relatives around the world after the client passes away.“This is no macabre joke,” assures California’s Todd Michael Krim. The 31-year-old lawyer hit upon the idea for the service during a flight from Los Angeles to London.His aircraft was shaken by turbulence, and Todd was faced with the fear of death. A number of thoughts plagued him: “Who will take care of my dog Jini if we crash? Do my parents know that I love them? What kind of a burial would they plan for me?”This experience prompted the Californian to quit his job as an attorney and to begin the Website as “a service for everyone who wants to prepare themselves emotionally and practically for their death.”The selection of services runs from the preparation of a will to tips for burial and on to chatrooms where users can talk about sorrow, fear, and life after death. Still, the most popular feature of the site is “afterlife e-mails.” More than 12,000 customers from 80 countries have already signed up.The average user is about 37 years old. This doesn’t surprise Krim. His parents never talked about death and burial, “but for my generation it’s no longer a taboo subject.”Users first choose a “guardian angel,” a relative or friend who, in the event of the user’s death, will notify the Web site immediately. At that point, all of the e-mail messages that the user had stored in his “electronic filing cabinet” are sent to their recipients.To minimize the shock that Auntie and Uncle might suffer in receiving an unexpected e-mail from the dearly departed “from beyond the grave” an explanation accompanies the private message. Naturally, Krim claims not to inspect the content of the messages, and he purports to handle them with the utmost respect for privacy.His Website does offer helpful advice for those who become tongue- tied at the thought of death and dying. An example: “Hi Mom, You were great in planning all of the important events of my life – my graduation party, my wedding, now that I’ve moved on please obey my last requests and follow these wishes on the attached form.”This is followed by a detailed list of common requests, such as the appeal for flower money to be donated to charity, that cremation is preferred, and what should be written on the gravestone.Krim admits that he himself has saved very personal letters for his parents, but has also prepared funny goodbye letters for his friends, including jokes and anecdotes and a recital of his favourite books and recipes.Just as the content of the e-mail messages varies entirely by customer, the format is also highly flexible. Customers can choose an appropriate background design for their letters, from a discreet blue-grey to heavenly clouds, cherubs, and hearts.Fifty-six-year-old Californian Gayle Groves counts as one of the first customers to have ordered the service. When her husband died suddenly two years ago, she didn’t know how he wanted to be buried or whether he wanted his organs donated. “I was completely helpless and had to make all the decisions on my own,” she remembers.She has now made preparations in the event of her own sudden passing. Her children and friends will be informed by e-mail of all the details she holds to be important.Yet the Website’s operators don’t intend to restrict the service to just the written word. Krim this year also wants to offer video and audio e-mail messages so that his customers can say goodbye in picture and sound as well.
