As a child I remember my parents reading the obituaries in the daily paper. I don’t think they read each obit word for word but what they probably did was scan the names for anyone they might know.
From childhood on, I have also read the obits. Now that I have been reading them for over fifty years, although not an expert on them, I think I have learned something from them.
I scan each obit and every now and then something catches my eye. One that always comes to mind was a woman who passed away that was survived by six adult sons. Each son had Dr. in front of their name which tells me that aside from a ton of student loans for six sons, there was a lot to be proud of. That woman must have been busting her buttons when meeting someone new and they asked her about her family.
There is a saying that crossed my path one time that said to live your life so that your obituary is a good read.
For the most part they all read the same way: Name, Age, Birth Date, Death Date. Then there’s a list of survivors, maybe where they worked, and any clubs or organizations they were members of. Following that is the date, time and place of the services and burial, as well as charities you wish to make any donations to on behalf of the deceased.
There should be more creativity when writing a two-inch column about a person’s many years on this earth. Everybody has been somewhere, done something, or achieved some kind of recognition that deserves mentioning.
I realize that at the time all of this information is being gathered from next of kin, they are sad, distraught, and experiencing a host of other emotions while sitting in front of a stranger known as the funeral director.
Every now and then I come across an obit that catches my eye because it is written like a sweet song. Someone took the time to really give the deceased a proper send off by highlighting that they loved to sing or bake, cook or do volunteer work, or was an amazing wife / husband, mother / father, and grandma / grandpa. How about mentioning that the deceased loved to travel and what they learned about different countries and cultures during these trips. So maybe not everyone lead an exciting life but even if the deceased liked to stay home and do nothing but read books, mentioning that their interest was in history is still worth mentioning.
At a very young age, my oldest son told me that he wanted to be a millionaire by the age of thirty and frankly he didn’t seem to care what he had to do to achieve that. Needless to say that didn’t happen but I can tell you he turned out to be quite successful…but not by the age of thirty. But there is nothing wrong with setting goals and dreaming of your future.
If the surviving family has a great sense of humor, it could always be written that the deceased always dreamed of being a famous singer but unfortunately they couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket.
It might be in everyone’s best interest to write their own obit highlighting the dreams they had or events they experienced. Don’t forget to leave fill-in-the-blank areas for the funeral director. This, my friends, is going to be your last hurrah so you may as well go out with a bang!
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