A choice assignment...a privilege.

Everyone has lived an interesting life. No exceptions. Even the infant who dies in the second day of life. Or the old man whose funeral was sparsely attended. There’s a story behind all these people. Only thing is they often go to their graves unrecognized for their achievements. For their lives. They evaporate. Never heard of again. Because nobody noticed. I look at the death notices in the local weekly newspaper. That’s all most of ‘em are. Death notices. Virtually no obituary. No memorable story of their lives. Unless they’re prominent. Relatively well-known locally. Maybe 1 in 20, or 1 in 50, qualify for special attention. Well, if I were running the local weekly, I’d give everyone a special obituary. I’d probe for a story. One behind that 2-day-old infant. What might have been if he lived a long life? Why was this infant ill-fated? Will he have any lasting-effect on the survivors? What dreams did the parents have for him? And take that old man. Only 3 people showed up for the funeral. Why not more? What do they know of the old man? And if nobody seems to know anything – well, then let’s speculate. Let’s find some meaning in this man’s life. Why don’t we know more? Oh, I have so many questions. Endless queries. When I was a young man and starting out as a writer for newspapers, I thought being assigned to write obituaries was a lowly task. Now I’d consider it a choice assignment…a privilege. –Jim Broede