(A) One my Professors -- Dr. John Brantner, University of Minnesota Medical School, Psychiatry -- was one of the first Teachers in the then new Field of "Thanatology" ... He used to assign his Students the Task of writing their own (imagined) Obituary ... NONE of them ever just "died" ... They were KILLED -- in a Plane Crash, shot by a jealous Husband, killed in a tragic heroic Attempt to save another Person from Drowning, etc. ...

(B) He further wryly observed that he knew that he had passed a significant Life Marker when he realized that he now knew more People who were dead than who were alive ... 

(C) I (presently Age 63) started reading the Daily Obituaries faithfully some Years ago ... and indeed I now find more People my own Age, Classmates, former Co-Workers, etc. ...

(D) I continue to find it both intriguing and remarkable that People in my Community (Twin Cities of Minnesota) consistently die in Alphabetical Order ... !!!  (Does this happen in YOUR Community also ... ???)

(E) Nearly EVERYBODY dies " ... following a COURAGEOUS Battle with [ ........] ... " ... Personally, I am relatively a COWARD about such Fights ... One of my Good Buddies and I recently were discussing that an HONEST Obituary for either one of us would announce that ... " ... HE succumbed following a lengthy Battle with his BODY ... " ...

Or ...

"He died with a Sound Mind and in Perfect Health at the Age of 157 ... In Fact, his Body was SO healthy that, at Autopsy, they had to beat his Liver to Death with a Stick ..."

Jun 11, 2012 -- 11:59PM, teilhard wrote:

So ...

If you were to write your own suggested Obituary, what would it be ... ???

I want MINE to say, "We were WRONG ... !!!  He's  STILL  ALIVE  after all ... !!!"

I kinda like the "shot by jealous husband" thing. 

I'm just as glad I won't be around to read mine, which would likely include the line "shot down by a beagle on a flying doghouse."

People like to READ an Obituary as long as it is about *someone*ELSE* ...

Id like not so much an obit but an article in the newspaper saying the police had to close the street because of the number of mourners.    That I, over the years gave thousands to charity, was loved by the neighborhood, had studiedi at a couple of leading universities and with the Dalai Llama, developed promising leads on cancer cures,  was the exwife Johnny Debb, Brad Pitt and some other leading celebrities.  One of her greatest accomplishments was her success in reasoning with the head of the Talibon who layed down their weapons after a meeting with her.  She along with the worlds most interesting man ( who she knew personally) was the worlds most interesting women.    She will go down in history