The obits

[Queen K]

Do you read them? Check them out? Only read the ones of people you know or think you might?

For some reason I read some but not others and then again, have no idea as to what anyone would have to say about me.

[Piecemaker]

I ALWAYS read the obits! Have for years. Why? Never really thought about it before...I read them because they are there?! I have no idea except that I find others and their lives interesting, or maybe because I want to give a little thought to those that have gone and those that mourn...while I feel gratitude that my own losses have been few.

[BoB76]

I read them all the time. It's a good way to find out who's dead.

[mlsram]

I read them everyday. This year alone I have learned of about 4 people that I have known who passed on.

[gardengirl]

I read them as well. Growing up in a small town, it was something you did.
It is surprising to me how many names I recognize. I moved here in 1990, but have had several different jobs and met a lot of people over the years. I am always saddened by the young ones.
The older people have often had very interesting lives. I read one recently where the old gal had been a chorus girl (might have been Ziegfeld) I don't remember exactly.

[Captain Awesome]

I read them when I need my spirits lifted and when I feel like I'm losing hope in humanity. You read those and see how many lovable husbands and caring wives are out there, everybody is generous, kind, and nice.

[Queen K]

So true, while the scum like Clifford Olsen lives on and on. Is there no justice in the World? I've often wondered if anyone is ever going to write the truth:

She was a controlling *bleep* who raised her kids in the crocodile method, hatched em and slid away for them to fend for themselves in a cruel world. The kids were neglected while she had to work for a living and was tired all the time, so much so that no one ever got anything good to eat.

Or,

He was a monster to the kids who ruled with an iron fist and everyone dreaded it when he came home from work, drunk or not. While everyone suffered he lived in a dream world and his wife supported everything.

How come no one writes obits like this?

Like come on people, was everyone saints?

[gardengirl]

Obits are submitted. The people who are truly evil, probably have no one to do that.
For the marginal ones, you will notice that some obits are pretty succinct.
So and so passed away. Services at ____________.

[Piecemaker]

As GG raced in to say ahead of me...I think that those that do not leave behind a postive memory often receive a very brief obit with no flattering adjectives used, or there is no obit at all. While all of us have faults, those that love us accept our lack of perfection because the good in us far exceeds the bad. There are many wonderful people that are deeply mouned when they die. There are many people that hurt a lot of people during their lifetime. Their family mourns for what never was. (And they don't publish the "dirty laundry".)

[Queen K]

I know one man in town who had many friends who thought the world of him, so when his family did the "he lived and died" obit they were furious enough to publish a real obit. And it spoke of his accomplishments in Kelowna. He really did more for average street people and the poor that his family never saw.

[gardengirl]

There is an interesting obit listed today. It was very sad, but very touching and uplifting at the same time.

http://www.castanet.net/obituaries/BOSK,_Rodney_Allan/

[Piecemaker]

I thought the same, GG. It was "real".

[coffeeFreak]

Don't be too quick to judge a short obit...the dollar comes into play when considering the size of the write up.

[gardengirl]

Don't be too quick to judge a short obit...the dollar comes into play when considering the size of the write up.

So you can't spend a couple of bucks to honour someone who was important to you?
I don't believe obits are that expensive. I believe some of the funeral homes include it in their services.

[steven lloyd]

My apologies in advance if this comment seems off topic and to be derailing this thread but I'd like to write an obit for my neighbors dog (couldn't help thinking that as I was reading this thread with my office window open on a hot summer night).