Dead Zone

The Obits just draw me in every Sunday - I just gotta read them! Sometimes they are full of nothing, sometimes they are full of dead people I would have liked to meet and there are some that just flat out scare me! There was Eddie "Bozo" Miller, a gustatory giant! A what? The man once ate 27 chickens in one sitting on a $10,000 bet! He made it in to the Guiness Book of World Records.

There was Libia Foglesong - I mean just the name is great! Libia was an avid gardener and she dropped dead working in her garden.

Then there was the woman after my own heart. No sooner had she returned from one trip than she began to plan her next. Irene was a loving mother and a dedicated and passionate partner in her 32 year marriage.

People often ask me, why do read the obits? It is not because I am getting older and feel as long as I don't see my own name... That is not it. I just enjoy reading about people's lives. How do you fit an entire life into just a few words. I have told you in the past that I read them because "he loved pickles" what a wonderful thing to remember about someone.

This week I have another reason: Pete Miller lived a long life, he was born in 1914 and believed in fate and destiny. He met his wife when she was directed to a wrong number and it was him. His favorite word was "why". He was filled with wonder at the progress of technology. After retirement he learned Spanish and ran with the bulls in Pamplona. He will be interred with his wife Blanch who died in 2003 after 60 years together. He did not want to be remembered with flowers, but by following his advice to live life well and happily. But what I liked most was that he would say good bye to friends with this words: "Thank you for being my friend".

So, if I don't say it to your face I want to say it here: "Thank you for being my friend".