A Canadian construction company owner took his self-professed love of digging to a macabre but heartwarming level by actually preparing his own grave!
Having spent over fifty years digging holes for various projects, including graves, Jimmy Kickham, marveled to the CBC that "I love digging. Just one of those things that gets into your system."
And so while digging a grave one day, it dawned on the eighty-nine-year old Prince Edward Island resident that he could actually dig his own.
To his credit, Kickham did not simply unearth six feet of dirt and then call it a day.
After checking with his priest, presumably to make sure such an endeavor was okay, Kickham consulted with his local undertaker to get the necessary measurements of his future final resting place.
The veteran gravedigger then brought his trusty backhoe to his reserved plot and prepared a meticulous patch of ground.
Revealing a bit about the 'art' of gravedigging, Kickham explained that he dug a six foot hole and then dropped a pine box into the pit.
He subsequently filled in the grave so that, when he ultimately passes away, future gravediggers will only have to small ways down before they hit the box.
They can then insert the late Jimmy Kickham into the already-buried box and seal the grave up for good.
According to Kickham, the pine box style of grave is actually a classic method of burial as modern techniques now simply allow for the casket, alone, to be buried in the ground.
Although his dark DIY project may inspire squirms in some, he expressed hope that his work would both relieve the burden of his family after he passes and leave something truly unique behind for future generations of Kickhams.
"The grandchildren will know that their grandfather dug his own grave with his own backhoe," he marveled to the CBC, "so that'll be something for them to carry around, won't it?"
So while some people lament taking their work home with them, Kickham is more than content to take his vocation even farther ... all the way to the grave.
Source: CBC