The Obituary

I don't know why it’s this way for me, but I just tend to enjoy talking with people, and it seems like no matter where I live there are a few places in town where I can walk in the door and people know my name. The problem is that these are never the places that I would want to admit to. In Loveland it was the pharmacy where I could walk in and they already knew what I was doing there. There is something depressing about being in your 20's and being on a first name basis with the pharmacist. In Dubuque, it's a little better, but the place is the Hardee's restaurant next to campus. I don't eat there everyday or anything, but I probably do end up there at least once a week if I have an on campus meeting during lunch and I need something to grab quickly. I walk in and the two girls who are always behind the counter always smile and welcome me by name (but I must admit I don't know theirs). Someday I need to arrange it that the people who work at the bank know my name. That might mean that I'm not poor.
I was at Hardee's today for lunch after delivering a letter to the Dean's office asking to be considered as a student delegate for GA next year. I like to go in sometimes on weekends because I can get a free newspaper and just unwind for an hour or so. As I scanned the headlines today and delved deeper into the Des Moines Register, something caught my attention. It was the words "Thornton, CO" in the obituaries. Normally I don't scan this section of the paper, but it was a town from back home in Colorado and the photo shown with the text was of an attractive lady who was only in her early 40's. The obit began with the simple words, "Hi, my name is...” I'm guessing that she passed from something along the lines of cancer; something that gave her enough warning so that she could actually write her own obituary. It was a beautiful and somewhat awe inspiring tribute as she left quick messages to those she was leaving behind. It was a quick I love you to her husband, and a message that she would always be watching over her daughters in spirit. She told her son to be strong, and to her step father she quipped "Who loves ya man!?" The most striking words for me though, were the thoughts reserved for her mother. "thank you for your love, your humor, your strength and this life, I had a blast!"
I had a great conversation tonight with a good friend while lounging away the night under the star filled sky in a hot tub. We talked about our lives and about the experiences that we have had that helped lead us to where we are. It was one of those conversations where you make yourself vulnerable as you share, and I'm grateful for having friends like that whom I can share with. Upon arriving home tonight, I see this obituary still sitting on my desk, and it has me thinking. If I had to write my own obituary, what would I say to everybody I care about? How do you put a whole life full of memories into just a few short words? I don't know that I could. I do know that I could say two things though...."Thank you" and "I had a blast!!!"