Not because I think I'm going to die any time soon, although that day is never up to us.

I'm doing it because I have read so many obituaries and thought, "Dang! I sure wish I could have known that person when they were alive!" Well, that's pretty much impossible so I had another idea:

Write an obituary that tells everyone else about the people in my life that made me who I am (the ones still living, as you will see).

If I am anything worthwhile, it's because of my wife, children and friends. So my obituary is going to tell everyone about what great people my wife, children and friends are, and how much I loved them. And if people think they would have liked to have known me, they still can through knowing my loved ones that are still around.

I'm pretty excited about this.

LOL.

I was at a conference today and one part dealt with time management. Their advice was "Eat the frog!" meaning, "Do first what you want to do the least".

All my co-workers died laughing, pointed at me and told the leader, "If you only knew!"

RodeoSchro said:

Not because I think I'm going to die any time soon, although that day is never up to us.

I'm doing it because I have read so many obituaries and thought, "Dang! I sure wish I could have known that person when they were alive!" Well, that's pretty much impossible so I had another idea:

Write an obituary that tells everyone else about the people in my life that made me who I am (the ones still living, as you will see).

If I am anything worthwhile, it's because of my wife, children and friends. So my obituary is going to tell everyone about what great people my wife, children and friends are, and how much I loved them. And if people think they would have liked to have known me, they still can through knowing my loved ones that are still around.

I'm pretty excited about this.

I like that, except I would call it a diary/journal entry. No need to wait to die to appreciate the ones you love.

lazycrockett said:

U beat me to it!

Rodeo...how's about you get a "frog in blender" etched into your headstone?!

[Edited 2/26/14 5:30am]

kewlschool said:

RodeoSchro said:

Not because I think I'm going to die any time soon, although that day is never up to us.

I'm doing it because I have read so many obituaries and thought, "Dang! I sure wish I could have known that person when they were alive!" Well, that's pretty much impossible so I had another idea:

Write an obituary that tells everyone else about the people in my life that made me who I am (the ones still living, as you will see).

If I am anything worthwhile, it's because of my wife, children and friends. So my obituary is going to tell everyone about what great people my wife, children and friends are, and how much I loved them. And if people think they would have liked to have known me, they still can through knowing my loved ones that are still around.

I'm pretty excited about this.

I like that, except I would call it a diary/journal entry. No need to wait to die to appreciate the ones you love.

Oh, I appreciate them right now. That's not the point.

When people die, they get obituaries written about them by others, and lots of times my reaction is, "Wow, what a person! I wish I had known them!" But of course I can't, because they are gone.

What I want to do with my obituary is tell people that read it, "If you think I was someone worth knowing, then go meet the following people because they are the ones that made me who I was. I was a reflection of them and if you think you would have liked me, then I am sure you are going to love these people".

PurpleJedi said:

lazycrockett said:

U beat me to it!

Rodeo...how's about you get a "frog in blender" etched into your headstone?!

[Edited 2/26/14 5:30am]

I am not sure if frogs will make it into the obituary but they probably will!

RodeoSchro said:

kewlschool said:

I like that, except I would call it a diary/journal entry. No need to wait to die to appreciate the ones you love.

Oh, I appreciate them right now. That's not the point.

When people die, they get obituaries written about them by others, and lots of times my reaction is, "Wow, what a person! I wish I had known them!" But of course I can't, because they are gone.

What I want to do with my obituary is tell people that read it, "If you think I was someone worth knowing, then go meet the following people because they are the ones that made me who I was. I was a reflection of them and if you think you would have liked me, then I am sure you are going to love these people".

These are worthwhile sentiments, but an obvious question some would ask is...do feel you have intrinsic worth...quite apart from anyone else?...inherent worth as a man?...or is your sense of identity and worth completely tied to your family alone?

It should just be "the second funkiest" and that's it. Wait, that's for your tombstone or marker.

What you suggested is good, I'd just add musical taste.

Cool !

Michael's dad has hand made coffins for himself and his wife !

Mach said:

Cool !

Michael's dad has hand made coffins for himself and his wife !

funkyandy said:

RodeoSchro said:

Oh, I appreciate them right now. That's not the point.

When people die, they get obituaries written about them by others, and lots of times my reaction is, "Wow, what a person! I wish I had known them!" But of course I can't, because they are gone.

What I want to do with my obituary is tell people that read it, "If you think I was someone worth knowing, then go meet the following people because they are the ones that made me who I was. I was a reflection of them and if you think you would have liked me, then I am sure you are going to love these people".

These are worthwhile sentiments, but an obvious question some would ask is...do feel you have intrinsic worth...quite apart from anyone else?...inherent worth as a man?...or is your sense of identity and worth completely tied to your family alone?

Well, the idea originally came to me when I read the obituary of a man who'd apparently done a lot in life (I didn't know him). His obituary went on for over a dozen paragraphs, detailing his professional life. Then at the very end was one paragraph that said, "But his greatest love was his family".

All I could think was, "I'm sure this man would have appreciated the many words about his professional life, but I bet he'd rather have had an obituary that was 95% about how much he loved his family, and only 5% about all the professional stuff".

So that's when I started thinking about writing my own obituary, and then I combined that with the concept of "I don't want to write something that makes you wish you'd known me; I'd rather write something that makes you want to meet those I love who made me what I am, and are still here".

My sense of worth flows mainly from my family, because that's who has received most of my love. My friends have received the rest, along with people I've met along the way.

All the stuff I've been lucky enough to do in business or music or whatever doesn't make me worth anything. In sales we have the "So what?" test. If you say something about your product (or in this case, your life) and someone can reasonably respond "So what?" then you aren't talking about something important.

Any of us can tell people about the stuff we've done that made us money or got us attention and anyone can probably respond with a "So what?".

But if you tell me how much love you've given someone - family member or whoever - there's no way I could say "So what?" and get any respect.

Slave2daGroove said:

It should just be "the second funkiest" and that's it. Wait, that's for your tombstone or marker.

What you suggested is good, I'd just add musical taste.

LOL, you bet!

RodeoSchro said:

funkyandy said:

These are worthwhile sentiments, but an obvious question some would ask is...do feel you have intrinsic worth...quite apart from anyone else?...inherent worth as a man?...or is your sense of identity and worth completely tied to your family alone?

Well, the idea originally came to me when I read the obituary of a man who'd apparently done a lot in life (I didn't know him). His obituary went on for over a dozen paragraphs, detailing his professional life. Then at the very end was one paragraph that said, "But his greatest love was his family".

All I could think was, "I'm sure this man would have appreciated the many words about his professional life, but I bet he'd rather have had an obituary that was 95% about how much he loved his family, and only 5% about all the professional stuff".

So that's when I started thinking about writing my own obituary, and then I combined that with the concept of "I don't want to write something that makes you wish you'd known me; I'd rather write something that makes you want to meet those I love who made me what I am, and are still here".

My sense of worth flows mainly from my family, because that's who has received most of my love. My friends have received the rest, along with people I've met along the way.

All the stuff I've been lucky enough to do in business or music or whatever doesn't make me worth anything. In sales we have the "So what?" test. If you say something about your product (or in this case, your life) and someone can reasonably respond "So what?" then you aren't talking about something important.

Any of us can tell people about the stuff we've done that made us money or got us attention and anyone can probably respond with a "So what?".

But if you tell me how much love you've given someone - family member or whoever - there's no way I could say "So what?" and get any respect.

Completely understand what you are expressing here.

I kind of suspected that you were thinking over my questions also...

Your giving to and loving others is a blessed thing, does give meaning to life and so naturally your identity would be tied up with that.

I'm just a little cognisant of the fact that a man's traditional role has generally been to spend their lives sacrificing for others, loving others, general acting as a tool, a utility for women and society...like an object in fact...and receiving little appreciation in return.

Women's roles have changed haven't they? Men should feel no shame in adapting to societal changes also.

You say 'all the stuff you've been lucky to do' doesn't make you 'worth anything'...again, completely understood to a point...and that point is, men, all men do need to feel some inherent worth just for being themselves, because 50+ years of internalising shame from ideological feminism has damaged relations between men, women and society...

Got me thinking about an obituary though...hmmm...appreciate your reply.

If you publish it in a paper, just remember they charge PER WORD. Obits ain't cheap.

bluesbaby said:

If you publish it in a paper, just remember they charge PER WORD. Obits ain't cheap.

You are correct. I bought an insurance policy to cover all funeral-related items, including that. you know what's odd, though?

It's entirely possible that I might outlive newspapers! If I do, then my whole plan was for nothing, LOL.

morningsong said:

So I guess a sample would be a rude request?

Not at all. I'll post it when it's done, maybe in a day or two. Thank you for asking!

sorry. that wasn't funny after all. apologies

[Edited 3/5/14 10:33am]

for full effect, why don't you go the whole hog & film yourself reading it out? you can leave the film with your solicitor & like the movies it can be featured during the reading of your will or at the funeral! that will get them all bawling