Okay. I was doing the dishes.
Then I noticed a plastic tray had the picture of a departed gentleman: a memorial of sorts.

Recently the news made the rounds that Emeka Offor, a wealthy businessman, had buried his own father in a golden casket.

While I don't have a say in how people choose to memorialize their loved ones, I think we have a huge cultural problem.

Around the world, people build cancer research centres and libraries, and endow professorial chairs in universities, all in an effort to immortalise their loved ones. These legacies, no doubt, will stand the test of time.

For instance, Stanford University was founded in 1885 by Leland and Jane Stanford in memory of their only child, Leland Stanford Jr., who had died of typhoid fever at age 15 the previous year.

Stanford was a former Governor of California and U.S. Senator and made his fortune as a railroad tycoon. Today, Stanford is one of the best known research universities worldwide. In fact, Silicon Valley is the product of an effort to build a self sufficient local industry on the Stanford campus in California.

According to Wikipedia, Stanford faculty and alumni have founded a large number of companies that produce more than $2.7 trillion in annual revenue, equivalent to the 10th-largest economy in the world. It is the alma mater of 30 living billionaires, 17 astronauts, and 20 Turing Award laureates.

Many members of the US Congress attended Stanford. Sixty Nobel laureates and seven Fields Medalists have links with Stanford as students, alumni, faculty or staff.

In the final analysis, we stand to build a great nation for our descendants if we did less of sharing worthless souvenirs during burials and weddings, and more of building lasting monuments to celebrate the lives of our loved ones.

Correct

Seconded!

But, "Okay. I was doing the dishes.", why am I salivating?

Op, if you become rich, build your own Legacy...
MINDING YOUR OWN BUSINESS REQUIRES NO CAPITAL