From the short obituary: 'He loved to drink coffee and smoke cigarettes.'

This was a crazy obituary that appeared over the weekend in my small city. I can only guess his family was not too fond of him.

I became a bit depressed reading that short bio. A life wasted. I hope my life will have been meaningful to those that have known me. In the end we are nothing but stories. Hopefully our stories will be more meaningful and motivating to others than this poor individual's story. It has been on mind this week.

What a strange thing to say about someone in an obit. I can't tell if that was a passive aggressive thing or if they thought he was fun loving. Weird. If they didn't like him, why did bother with an obit at all?

Within 3 generations, most of the stories about us will probably be forgotten. I think that is why it is important to spend time with the ones who will know you first hand. I'm trying to leave them more than I took. A meaningful life can be manifested in many ways.

I've been thinking about that, too.

In Asian religions that involve ancestor worship, the ancestors are commemorated individually for three generations and then basically join the generic family ancestors. I thought that curious when I learned it decades ago, but as older people start to pass away it makes sense. The truth is we don't know our fourth-generation ancestors well enough to remember them individually.

So my conclusion, like yours, is that individual immortality lasts two or three generations. Time spent with kids, grandkids, and perhaps great grandkids is the best investment anyone can make.

You have to be extremely infamous or extremely good to be remembered. Hitler will be remembered by more people and for a longer time than any of us will be.

My grandfather was fondly remembered. I never knew him because he died before I was born. People would always tell me great things about him when they found out I was his grandson. He was generous and fun.

I have found people who believe in reincarnation are less stressed than people who think you get only one life. They have a broader scope of things. We take the knowledge from multiple lifetimes lived to become a being that understands a multiple spectrum of things. In this case what some would consider a wasted life is a learning experience in the grand scheme of things to another.

Makes me wonder what my Obit would be if my extended TBM family wrote one. Well, actually I don't really wonder. I know.

Born. Did a lot of things Heavenly Father wouldn't approve. Died. Oh, and he was an artist.

I read a line lately that said dreams were life without the logic. Then admitted some lives don't have logic. An obit may be a life without logic. A list. Reduced to a list--curated list. Obits are an invasion of privacy. Dying should be on a need to know basis.

I guess they could add "He liked to eat Funeral Potatoes."

He probably liked his mornings and was a guy you could bum a smoke from. He probably had a lot more going for him.

      Should my mulish, vague, and imprecise plans come to fruition, there will be no obituary for moi.  There may be an occasional news report (filler material for slow news days) regarding "... 92-year-old Brown man still missing, but there's no reward...," but that'll be it.  (The 'Have you seen this Lamanite?' posters will become dartboard targets...)

      My descendants will know to hope for the best, and I will have outlived my detractors, so I will be the stuff of smiles for any who occasionally think of me.  Eventually, the church will count my birthdays, and I will have had enough of them to have my records forwarded to the appropriate ward in the Hereafter...but I don't think I'll be there.


(Do flashlights work in Outer Darkness?)

I think I have avoided that problem: I have written my own obituary.

Also,

Will there be, after the Second Coming, 'reverse obituaries'?

You know, "Brigham Young was resurrected over the weekend...  And the first thing he said was ..." (Wow, such a wide variety of pithy comments available!!)