When one thinks of a final resting place – be it a hole in some treasured ground or ashes spread over a meaningful locale – a shopping mall does not spring to mind. But now, one grieving man has sprinkled his dead fiancee’s ashes near a LensCrafters store in Sarasota Florida’s Westfield Southgate Mall, a shopping complex I know well. My beloved prescription reading sunglasses are from that very same LensCrafters.

The news report said that mall officials and the fire dept. could seek to recover costs from the ash-spreader since the mall had to be evacuated and shut down for a few hours. Apparently, the white powdery substance spooked shoppers.

Halloween looms, but let us hope this was not some lame, ghoulish prank. Some folks enjoy hanging out at malls, can spend hours in them. I go to a mall with a mission, get what’s needed and get out. I can’t imagine staying there, well, forever.

Note to Family & Friends: Speaking of final resting places, please spread my ashes over Edgartown harbor, from the lighthouse. Don’t be shocked. I’m just planning ahead.

Edgartown harbor by the late Ray Ellis