Tuesday, November 3, 2009

another obituary to write...

My former brother-in-law passed away on Halloween night. He was in a coma for a couple of weeks...I guess his organs must have given up. Life support is hard on a body, especially if the brain isn't doing the work. Best to let go, but its surreal. My poor niece and nephew, just 21 and 18, having to deal with this loss.

They seemed so detached, not together at his bedside, but waiting at home for news, hoping for the best. Now, reality.

I was asked to help with his obituary. I used to write them for the newspaper where I worked about 10 years ago. I've been writing them since for family members and a few friends. So today was fact-finding, verifying name spellings, gathering dates and highlights to remember his life. I got some of his history from his own business website, some more from a website for a band he belonged to. Its always interesting to learn something after they died about someone you have known for years...I didn't know Clay has been playing guitars since he was a young boy.

I got the skeleton of the obituary written, leaving room for more facts or details. They will modify it tonight and search for a suitable photo to publish along with it. Tomorrow I will edit the final draft and send it on to the mortuary.

I really miss Andrew, my proofreader. I hope this one comes out sounding right.

No comments:

Post a Comment