Do you read obits?

[Broken Wind]

I read the obits from a couple of towns that I have ties to. I took a real gut shot this morning when I saw the obit of my best friend from my childhood. It really upset me and I cannot get back to go to the funeral.

Getting old sucks. Maybe I shouldn’t be reading those things.

[snide]

Sorry for the loss of your friend.

[Norm]

About once a week I read the Baltimore Sun's obits, almost every time I recognize a name from the past, friend, neighbor, work associate, business owner...... scary.

[Mike Mercury]

Do you read obits?

no. Out of fear that I will read my own.

[Olustee bus]

Sorry for your loss. I quit reading them when I turned about 60.

[Stevedore]

I don't get any actual newspapers, so I don't often see obituaries.

I do, however, frequently google old childhood friends & classmates, former work colleagues, etc., and it always saddens me when I see any of them who've gone.

[mrvette]

I mat Ken in '60, I grad HS in '62, he was '64, he joined Navy and was back y '70 walked into my bedroom when I was asleep due to a job I hated with hours from 12 noon to 8pm or so....saying come on, lets go to Texas....it was Friday, I quit my job, we loaded up and drove straight through to Ft. Worth.....at end of year I returned to DC region.....we kept visiting back/forth when possible, talked on phone every few weeks....he lived in Crowley......

about 6 years ago no answer to calls, tried several times.....

contacted the local paper, sure enough the Obit.....but no cause,/what happened.....

[04 commemorative]

I read them everyday,always have....mostly because the person that will post under this will be a moron

[The_Dude]

Originally Posted by 04 commemorative

I read them everyday,always have....

[6spdC6]

I come from a undertakers family, so I have been reading obits for years.

Due to my work, schooling and hobbies I know quite a lot of people. Its getting to be a rare week I do not see at least 1 name that I know!

[69camfrk]

Every damn day, just to make sure I ain't in 'em!

[BADRACR1]

I always have. I still get the paper daily. Through my work I know a large amount of folks and too often see a name and face I know.

[dwjz06]

Sorry op. Nope don’t read em, and don’t want to know

[TripleBlack]

Never read any. This past week I was contacted about a 50 year high school reunion and was shocked to learn that out of my tiny class of 36, 10 had died. I knew about 2 of them but guess I should do a better job of keeping up.

[Rodnok1]

My MIL reads them every morning and hs since I've known her. Th local rag doesn't print now except for 2 or 3 days a week. Tried to get her to use a tablet so could read the paper online but won't do it.
She's always trying to know at least one person a day through some twisted contacts. The lady we met at the store died th one with the kid that the neighbors knew from another sports team back in 84.

[Broken Wind]

Ok, so I’m over the shock this morning. I phoned his brother yesterday and got some info that made me very sad. I was a wreck for most of the day.

I have known my friend, Tom, since I was 6 yrs old. My public school education tells me that has been 57 years. He lived in the same house he grew up in, just up the hill from mine.

My family moved from that home to another city when I was a Jr in HS, but I kept in touch with Tom, however sporadically, over the years. I used to see or talk with him at least a couple of times a year. I still had family there, and my parents actually moved back to that town in the ‘90s, so I would see him every time I went back to visit.

My parents left again somewhere around 2005, and consequently my contacts with Tom became fewer. Because of that, I had no idea what he was going thru these past few years.

I attempted to reach him a few times over the past 2 years and never received a return call or anything, which was very unusual. I had to go back and attend my uncle’s funeral in March. While there, I drove by Tom’s place and it looked very odd. It was completely devoid of signs of life and was in need of some TLC. It was very unlike Tom to let the place go like that. When I returned home, I phoned him several times, leaving voice messages that went unacknowledged.

I learned yesterday that in the past few years Tom had lost interest in life. He was a heavy drinker for a long time and it caught up with him. I could not reach him because he was in a nursing home at the age of 63.

My wife did not understand why Tom’s death had me so torn up yesterday. She said I didn’t get this torn up over losing relatives and she’s right. I’ve thought a lot about that and I believe it was because aside from being a childhood best buddy and the shared experiences that come with that, Tom was the constant in my life. He was the last direct link to a childhood that I have nothing but fond memories of (the human mind is an engineering marvel). It didn’t matter how much time passed, I always knew I could pick up the phone or drop by his house and Tom would greet me with a smile, hand me a beer, and regale me with brotherhood and friendship. I’m REALLY going to miss that, and I fear I took it for granted.

If you have someone in your life that is important to you, by all means tell them! The opportunity to do so can disappear in the time it takes to draw a breath.

If you’re still reading this, thanks. I needed to purge some emotion this morning.

[Mike Mercury]

with my luck... upon reading my own obit in the newspaper... I would look up and ask: "God, am I dead?"

God: "Not quite yet, you need to

cut your lawn one more time."

[mrvette]

Originally Posted by Mike Mercury

with my luck... upon reading my own obit in the newspaper... I would look up and ask: "God, am I dead?"

God: "Not quite yet, you need to

cut your lawn one more time."

In my case, wife is stuck mowing....damnit.....spine is killing me....no surgery till early next month....but I working on the vette, and it's VERY painful, as well as shitty 100f and 110% humidity...even a fan does little to no good.....

there is little, if ANY pain relief for the pinched nerve....****ing covid crap pushing off surgery ....so I set around in agony.....try set in Lazy Boy recliner....funny about that, this chair cost me only 800 bux....got hold of a proper furniture dealer up north on a lead from a buddy.....other stores were wanting 2300 bux....seriously.....