One day before my late husband died, Bill said he was feeling “funky.”
So I said, “Come into the office and sit with me at the computer. I am going to cheer you up.”
When he sat down beside me, I said, “You are going to help me write your obituary!”
After he got over the shock, he said, “How is that going to cheer me up?”
I can tell you we had a great time reminiscing about relatives and incidents. We got to laughing so hard that it really cheered him up. After we had finished his, he asked me to write mine, as he said he wouldn’t have any idea what to write. So we sat together as I wrote mine.
Then we sent a copy to all the kids.
At the time of a death, there is quite a lot of stress, and a bad time to try to remember all the things that should be in your death notice. Our kids were so pleased that we had done that for them—and soon they used it for Bill’s obit.
You can request what type of funeral you would like. Kids perhaps hear you say this, but it is more important that you have written it down for them. Also, the hymns you would like played. I think this is such a thoughtful gift to give to your family to use in their time of stress.
Writing all of this together was really a joyful time.
Chuckle Time: True story – one gentleman wrote his obituary ahead of time. It simply said, “I died.”
