Checking the Obits
My sons have no use for the newspaper. When I was young, it was my sole source of information, and I can't tell you how many times I got yelled at for taking it away from my parents who hadn't had the chance to read it before me. The kids get their information from the internet, and while I must admit that it's great to have all the world's information at the tip of my fingers - I still read at least two newspapers a day.
One of my strange habits is to scan the obits - reading the quick capsules about lives that are now over. I don't do it out of morbid curiosity, it is more out of sheer amazement - how can people live 70, 80, or 90 years and have their entire existence summed up in a couple of paragraphs?
What bothers me even more now, is the fact that I often see people leaving this world at an age younger than me. A shudder of absolute terror shakes me when I read about a 43 year old man dying instantly of a heart attack.
Some more observations - How do they write that someone who is 91 died suddenly. No one saw it coming?
I often think of the old Twilight Zone episode where the man is graced to get tomorrow's news today. He uses the information to make money betting the horses and sporting events. He turns himself into a rich man as he is able to forecast everything. But then, he sees his own obituary. Determined to cheat death, he stays in his room all day, driving himself crazy with the troubling information. Just before the show ends, he jumps out of a window - killing himself - and making his obit ring true.
I checked the obits today - I thought of the lives of the people and those they left behind. I was grateful that they were all strangers to me.
Finally, I remember a conversation that I had with my father as we passed the funeral home in my hometown. I was quite young, and it fascinated me that the curtain was closed whenever someone died. Driving by one evening, I said to my father - "Who died?" He answered - "Some lucky bastard."
It's not funny, but it is, good old dad - always ready with the winning line.
One of my strange habits is to scan the obits - reading the quick capsules about lives that are now over. I don't do it out of morbid curiosity, it is more out of sheer amazement - how can people live 70, 80, or 90 years and have their entire existence summed up in a couple of paragraphs?
What bothers me even more now, is the fact that I often see people leaving this world at an age younger than me. A shudder of absolute terror shakes me when I read about a 43 year old man dying instantly of a heart attack.
Some more observations - How do they write that someone who is 91 died suddenly. No one saw it coming?
I often think of the old Twilight Zone episode where the man is graced to get tomorrow's news today. He uses the information to make money betting the horses and sporting events. He turns himself into a rich man as he is able to forecast everything. But then, he sees his own obituary. Determined to cheat death, he stays in his room all day, driving himself crazy with the troubling information. Just before the show ends, he jumps out of a window - killing himself - and making his obit ring true.
I checked the obits today - I thought of the lives of the people and those they left behind. I was grateful that they were all strangers to me.
Finally, I remember a conversation that I had with my father as we passed the funeral home in my hometown. I was quite young, and it fascinated me that the curtain was closed whenever someone died. Driving by one evening, I said to my father - "Who died?" He answered - "Some lucky bastard."
It's not funny, but it is, good old dad - always ready with the winning line.
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