Apparently I have arrived at that point in my life where I read the obituaries in the morning when I read the paper. Not to find out if I’m listed although there are some mornings I’m not so sure. Rather I find myself reading obituaries to see if anyone I know has died. Yes a number of friends and acquaintances I know have passed in recent years and seemingly at an ever increasing rate. Living in the same metro area that I grew up in certainly adds to the list. May they all find eternal rest!
As a regular reader of obituaries there are just a couple of things that I find quirky.
First of all are the pictures. I know that people look fabulous when they are young. But I didn’t meet your aunt, uncle, mother, father, sister, or brother until they were in their 80’s. So a picture of them from before I was born doesn’t help me to know if the William Anderson in the obituaries is the person I knew. I mean how much time do you think I have to read the paper in the morning anyway?
The second thing that I find amusing is including the “nee Blickendurfer” when a woman has died and is survived or predeceased by her husband of 65 years. OK I get that the whole ancestry thing can come into play for some future family genealogist. But, was Jay really that bad a catch seven decades ago?
The last thing that bugs me about obituaries is really a slam on me. It is the “full notice to follow” obituary. Rather than going to my computer – yes I read a paper paper, I know I’m such a luddite – to visit the mortuary web page I expect there to be a full notice. You see I’m actually quite lazy. And of course, the full notice doesn’t always appear in the paper. Was that the Bill Anderson I knew? Heck after a couple of days I’ve forgotten all about Bill. I guess at a certain age you start to become forgetful too.
Now, what was that last thing about obituaries that I was going to mention?
gobblers nob 