Deep Thoughts

I recently came across a comment section on an article where the commentors were discussing how they would want to be remembered if they died that day.  It was actually a really interesting conversation, and led to more than a few of them writing the kind of obituary they would want to have written about themselves.

It got me thinking: how would I be remembered if I died today?  Not just by my family, but by everyone who has ever known me?

I like to think it would be favorable.  I'm not perfect, but I'm the kind of person who will bend over backwards to help the people I love before I do a single thing for myself.  I know there would be a few negative people who would say bad things about me just because they felt like it (like the people I went to high school with), but I try my hardest to have positive interactions with most people.

Anyway, it ended up making me think about how I'd like my obituary to look if my life ended today.  So, without further ado, this is how I would like to be remembered.

J [full name removed], 24, of [town], Pennsylvania, died in her home on August 18th, 2013.

She was born in Long Branch, New Jersey on November 4th, 1988, daughter of Robert [last name] and Lynda [last name].

She was a 2006 graduate of [town] Area High School, and was enrolled at King's College in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.  She intended to major in biology, with minors in chemistry and molecular biology.

She will be remembered by those closest to her as a caring individual who loved her family, her friends, and her pets.  She was an avid animal rescuer who fostered for a local pit bull rescue and shared her home with two rescued dogs, a corn snake, and a parakeet.  Her passion was science, but she also loved to read, to sing, and to bake.  She was a member of the King's College choir, the Cantores Christi Regis.

She is survived by her husband of five years, Bryan, of [town], Pennsylvania; her parents, Robert and Lynda, of [town], Pennsylvania; her older sister Angelica [last name] and her husband Tim, of [town], Pennsylvania; her younger sister Elizabeth [last name] and her husband John, of [town], Pennsylvania; her younger brother Jonah [last name], of [town], Pennsylvania; her nephew, Brydon [last name]; and her beloved pets.

As morbid as this might seem, it does serve a purpose for me...it reminds me that life is fleeting and that every day I spend on this planet could be my last.  Why be negative or treat anyone badly?  That's not the kind of legacy I want to leave.  I want people to remember me as a nice person.

How do you want people to remember you?

J