I am reminded today of a magazine article written several years ago about a woman who wrote her own obituary before death at the age of 69. Her motive seemed to be heartwarming, though, for those who would attend her funeral, for she implores them not to be sad at her passing. She explains that she does not want them to cry when she is gone, but instead to be happy that she was here and an important part of their lives. The she adds jokingly, “Or maybe you can cry a little bit. After all, I have passed away.”
These parting words would make people laugh, of course, because of her humorous approach, but then she writes something so profound that it would leave her mourners teary-eyed. At the end of the obituary, she sums it up and writes:
So…I was born; I blinked; and it was over. No buildings named after me; no monuments erected in my honor.
But I did have the chance to know and love each and every friend, as well as all my family members.
How much more blessed can a person be?
I encourage you to think about the message this woman is sending to those left behind. She wants to remind them that it is such a short span of time that we have on earth, but most importantly, at the end of our lives, we can face those moments by understanding that our relationships with others, whether tenderly nurtured or not, have been the defining moments of our entire lives.
May we value the relationships in our lives as the treasures they are. May we look at ways we can make them meaningful, and treasured by others. May our legacy to others be in passing that knowledge on to them. There is indeed a time to be born and a time to die. Let us fill up the space between with Love for our Lord, and for those in our lives.