Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Funny but damning obit for Mamá Dearest

Guy who sends me stuff sent me a bizarre obit a few weeks back. It had been up on a newspaper Web site but was pulled down. I pass it to you, redacted to protect the guilty:
D___ A___
1929 - Aug. 7, 2008
D___ A___, born in 1929 in New Mexico, left us on August 7, 2008. She will be met in the afterlife by her husband, R___, her son, P___ Jr., and daughter, R___.
She is survived by her daughters [six named], and son B___; grandchildren [19 named] ...; great-grandchildren [21 named] ... I apologize if I missed anyone.
D___ had no hobbies, made no contribution to society and rarely shared a kind word or deed in her life. I speak for the majority of her family when I say her presence will not be missed by many, very few tears will be shed and there will be no lamenting over her passing.
Her family will remember D___ and amongst ourselves we will remember her in our own way, which were mostly sad and troubling times throughout the years. We may have some fond memories of her and perhaps we will think of those times too. But I truly believe at the end of the day ALL of us will really only miss what we never had, a good and kind mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. I hope she is finally at peace with herself. As for the rest of us left behind, I hope this is the beginning of a time of healing and learning to be a family again.
There will be no service, no prayers and no closure for the family she spent a lifetime tearing apart. We cannot come together in the end to see to it that her grandchildren and great-grandchildren can say their goodbyes. So I say here for all of us, GOOD BYE, MOM.

Seven kids and 40 grands and greats might make a soul grouchy. I remember an occasion at the paper when a second woman in some guy's life inserted her own version of his obit, naming herself as some kind of survivor – surviving trick? – and listing her kids as his. Musta made some uncomfortable moments for someone, I'm sure, though not the decedent.

1 comment:

Sugar Magnolia said...

Holy jeez. I have often pondered what my obituary might say when I am gone, but I certainly hope it doesn't look like this. Am I the only one who worries about how I might be judged after I'm no longer here? Perhaps I just have too much time on my hands.