Your Own Obit

It's Sunday morning, and most times when I visit my parents, Sunday mornings include going to church.  That won't be happening today.  I sit here on the couch, across the room from my dad who is laying on his hospital bed, sleeping soundly.  As soundly as he can, I believe.  He is still, his breathing is slow.  His face doesn't appear as relaxed as I think it should, and I suspect its due to pain.  It's probably not sharp pain like someone poking you with a needle, more like a constant aching pain that is always there, wearing a person down.  And I find myself wishing I could take some of that pain away.  But life has a beginning, a middle and an ending.

I was reading an article about obituaries, about writing your own. What would you say in yours?  Would you mention a list of accomplishments?  Loved ones you're leaving behind?  Would you mention your parents, what they meant to you, how much they did for you?  Do you leave behind a legacy that impacted the world in a major way?  Most of us don't, but that's ok, because we all leave behind some kind of legacy.  Maybe in the traditions we pass on to our children.  Maybe in the other lives we touched in some way.  Sometimes the things we do leave a little seed of thought with someone who's crossed our path along the way, and their lives were changed because of it, usually in ways we're never aware of.

So what would my own say?  I would mention my two beautiful children, the amount of joy and laughter they brought into my life.  I would mention the step children who passed through my own life on their own journeys, and hope that I was a good influence in their lives.  I would mention my parents who knew enough about living a good life to create beautiful moments that turned into lasting memories for me; that they gave me a solid foundation of knowledge and faith to build my own life upon.  I would mention the friends who brought fun into my life, who stood by me in good times and bad.  And I would be so thankful, so grateful, for all the blessings that have come my way.  I might even be bold enough to say that it wasn't all good; there were trials, tribulations, tough times, but my faith brought me through them.  And then a chosen Bible Scripture:  II Tim 3:14

"But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, 

knowing from whom you learned it, 

and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, 

which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus." 

I think I would like to end my obit with something funny, something observed in life that would touch everyone who's hearing it.  Nothing is coming to mind at the moment, but definitely something to keep in the back of my mind to jot down.   :)