My Obituary!

A few years ago one of my daughters told me that I should prepare my own obituary because all my children couldn't possibly remember where I had worked during my working years.

So I have been planning to write it now for maybe ten or twelve years. I'm beginning to forget all the places that I worked, too!!

For research purposes, I read the obits of perfect strangers besides people I might have once known, and I have come to the
conclusion that very few people can write a really good obituary. The writers, even if they were close family members, did not know their loved ones in a very intimate way. You may read, "Lora Jane loved to read books and she worked the daily crossword puzzle." That doesn't say much about Lora Jane. But there's more. "Lora Jane was employed by the local men's shirt factory (sweat shop) for six years."

You've got to picture Lora Jane huddled over her power sewing machine sewing the same type of seam for the many thousands of shirts that were brought to her station. If she made a mistake, the shirts were returned to her for ripping and correcting. I tried this job for three months. But I will not mention that in my obituary. And I hope nobody else does.

I doubt if I'll mention that I was one of those Avon Ladies that used to ring your doorbell. They don't do that anymore, they get your order through the internet. It was a pleasant job, though, and you got to talk to lots of nice ladies who stayed home all day and were very glad to talk to an Avon lady because they were so bored looking at the walls. Once a man in his pajamas invited me to come in, but I declined.

Like everything else, Avon has changed a lot. They just sent me an e-mail telling me that they missed me (as a customer). I haven't ordered from them for quite awhile. Even with free shipping, it just isn't the same fun it used to be.

And we won't mention the little business I started in my old home town. I wanted to help my kids make some money, so I bought a lot of popcorn and some paper bags and popped the corn and buttered and bagged it and the kids had an evening stand at the corner of the block we lived on. They did a thriving business. I popped the corn in a heavy aluminum pot, which is the best way. My relatives have often remarked that I would have made a successful business woman. But I can't put such a thing in my obituary, can I?

Will I mention that I bought a Kiln and opened a ceramic studio in my basement? Had to spend $500 for better electric house wiring and about the same for the kiln. But we had a ball for quite awhile. Every morning I would go down to the basement and open the kiln to see how the glazes we applied the night before turned out on our figurines and pots, etc, after being baked. It was like Christmas every morning.

I even tried to be a clothing alteration person in my home. I was a failure.

But I was successful as a fashion illustrator when the clothing stores wanted drawings of the latest ladies' fashions printed in the paper. I was paid good money. So I think I will mention that when the time comes.

Otherwise, I guess my obit will be just about like every other housewife-mother. Not very impressive.