What will they say about you when you die?

What will they say about you when you die? 

You read the obits. Famous people die and other famous people say nice things. I’ve interviewed two Presidents and a bunch of famous people, but I’m thinking none of them will remember me and have anything nice to say to an obit writer. So we’re left with that rather sterile obit listing our jobs and a few noteworthy accomplishments, maybe how generous we were, or how we helped something somewhere, or that we were wonderful parents and husbands. I’m divorced, so I’m guessing I won’t get that “wonderful husband” line in my obit. Newspapers have notes and files all ready to be turned into wonderful obituaries should said well-known person pass away. They also have obituary writers whose skills have been honed for years writing about all kinds of people. 

Of course there’s a big difference between an obit writer at The New York Times and your average local paper, but local people read local obituaries. The obituaries and police blotter are two biggies for readers locally. We want to see which neighbors died and which ones got arrested. The other biggie locally is the listing of mortgage and warranty deeds, because we want to see how much our neighbors got when they sold their houses. 

But then there are those obituaries, the final statement on our lives. Does it matter that we gave to the local food bank, or sent footballs to Toys for Tots every year, or gave our leftover pizza to the homeless guy instead of taking it home, or maybe paid for a meal of some strangers? Of course it does, and that’s what makes us in the end. 

Maybe in the end we hope the obit writer will quote someone who says, “He was a nice guy.”