Catching the Yuletide Spirit

Let me start with a disclaimer; this post may turn out rather morbid. I thought as it was almost Christmas time I had an excuse. We have a tradition at our house, you see, of reading Jerome K. Jerome ghost stories on Christmas Eve. Actually, that's not quite true. I should say, Josh and Paul have worked hard in the last few years to establish a tradition of reading Jerome K. Jerome ghost stories on Christmas Eve. Dad never quite saw how ghost stories meshed with Christmas Eve or were a fitting encore for the Christmas Eve candlelight service. Thus, Josh and Paul and I sit out in the addition until the wee hours and read ghost stories by ourselves while the rest of the family sensibly goes to bed.


With Jerome K. Jerome ghost stories as my excuse, let me continue. Haven't you ever wanted to know what people would write in your obituary? I read a story once about a man who faked dying so he could read what the paper would print about him. Obituaries seem very ill-timed to me. By the time you're dead you really couldn't care less what people on earth think. And the live people already know what they think about you so why print it in a paper?


I'm sure you've seen the many blog and email things that get passed around from season to season: where do you see me in ten years, ask me any three questions and I'll answer if you do the same, if you could have three wishes what would they be? Personally, I think someone should ask, "if you were writing my obituary what would you say?"


I could ask that question to you. Then again, what if no one answered? This post would be left to stand awkwardly alone, uncommented upon and likely unread, a tribute to, I don't know, isolation perhaps? I wonder if blogs when uncommented upon have their own rendition of a certain time-honored saying. Perhaps blogs quote it like this, "Better to have posted and lost then never to have posted at all." ;)