A Matter of Perspective

In my job, I get to read a lot of obituaries. This may sound rather morbid but I enjoy reading most of them. Not that I want anyone to die. I enjoy reading them because I often get to know someone I never knew before.

I like to read about people and the things they did with their lives.

I often feel like I have lost a “friend,” too, when I am reading an especially good one.

I felt this way again a couple of weeks ago. I was reading about a lady I did not know. She had lived a kind, caring life. She was always giving of herself and her time. She seemed like the kind of person that anyone would want as a friend.

I felt really sad that I had not gotten to meet her in person.

Another reason I like reading obituaries is that it is fun to see the transitions that people go through in their lives.

For example, today I read about a man who worked most of his life on a farm and when he was near retirement he decided to change careers so he took training to obtain his CDL (Commercial Drivers License) to drive a truck and ended up doing over-the-road trucking for the remainder of his working life.

There have been very few obituaries that I have had the privilege to read that I have not enjoyed.

Again, I know that sounds bizarre. But it has been a privilege to read them and to get to know these people—many who I feel would have become my friend, had I known them while they were alive.

My only hope is that someday someone will read my obituary and will have wished they could have known me, too!