Fun obit
Every once in a while, a not-so-normal obituary makes news and reminds me that I really should sit down and at least write out a few basic requirements. The latest interesting obit appeared a couple days ago in a Virginia newspaper, in the form of Frederic Arthur Clark's self-penned obituary. Among other things, he "loved to hear and tell jokes, especially short ones due to his limited attention span," and "was deprived of his final wish which was to be run over by a beer truck on the way to the liquor store to buy booze for a double date to include his wife, Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter to crash an ACLU cocktail party." And his ashes will be shot from a cannon.The obituary is legitimate, and became the subject of an article in today's Richmond Times-Dispatch. Family members had received a lot of feedback, and they seemed to appreciate it. (After all, they filled in a few details of the obit and then submitted it to the paper.)
That's how I'd like to be remembered. I don't want to be the cause of any more sadness than necessary, and I'd much rather have people remember me with a grin. I've heard that even at age 2, I was trying to cheer people up, so why should that change? So maybe I should get around to that will and obituary. It seems like I'd thoroughly enjoy writing them, and there are a few things I should make clear in writing.
For instance, there will be no separate services for different sides of my family; everyone must be invited, and if they don't show up because they're afraid of seeing someone, that's too bad. Any part of my body that can be saved is to go to transplant patients. No expensive caskets and flowers are to be purchased -- unless an insurance company is paying for them, in which case I don't care. If any lawsuits are filed as a result of my death, all money must go to charity, specifically to legitimate pregnancy resource centers and adoption organizations. Because of this, the lawyers handling the case should be willing to take a lower-than-average cut of the money. If not, take the story to the media.
See? I'm having fun, and that's just the beginning. I'm sure any family members reading this are now worrying about what's next. But that's OK, because many of my family members were born worriers.
Posted by Layla at 10:59 PM, July 11, 2006
— Comments —