Random Thoughts: Obituaries are not just a passing fancy
Have you ever read a book and just wanted it to go on forever? I'm almost through with "A Year in the World," and hate to have it end.
Her description of her travels is so intimate and colorful. One's experience of travels stay with you forever. I knew a man who had lost everything in the 1930s Depression who said, "At least we have wonderful memories of our travels to other places."
Last Sunday's Wichita Eagle reviewed a book written by Marilyn Golman, "The Dead Beats Lost Souls: Lucky Stiffs and the Perverse Pleasure of Obituaries." She describes herself as an obituary junkie. I'm sort of like that. I always look at the obituary section of the paper. Now that they have pictures, I look at them and wonder about their lives. When the person is young, I wonder what happened. If they are old, I think they had a good, long life. If it is a military person, I feel sad.
I also like to visit old cemeteries and read the inscriptions on the stones. Some are humorous. There is the one that said, "I told you I was sick."
When the Kiwanis club sponsored a series of travel tales, one was a documentary on gravestones found in the cemeteries all over the United States. Of course, many were those for famous people. I thought it was quite interesting.
I suppose you think I'm strange, but I'll bet you do the same, especially if you are 60 or over. Let's see, what would I like carved on my stone? I guess, "She was here but she left." I hope I haven't increased your usual depression. Just a passing thought.
— NORMA HANNAFORD