Yesterday I read a story that fascinated me. It seems that friends and former colleagues of Frank Hughes, an 80 year old retired bus driver turned up for what they thought was his funeral. They only discovered later that he’s still very much alive.
It all happened in the north east English town of Darlington. They discovered their mistake when Frank was spotted walking around the town where he lives.
Apparently a notice in the local paper announcing the death of another 80 year old Frank Hughes sparked the confusion.
Reading the story sparked a line of thinking that I have every now and then. Imagine being able to attend your own funeral. While I reckon it’d be pretty heart breaking to see people grieving on your behalf, it would be interesting to see who turned up and what kind of send off you got.
People often say what they really think of someone at a funeral. Maybe we should all make a habit of telling others how we feel before it’s too late.
Posted by Rodney Olsen
Do you think some of your friends would enjoy reading I'm not dead yet? Please use the buttons below to share the post. Thanks.
“Maybe we should all make a habit of telling others how we feel before it?s too late” . . . you mean kind of like “I am feeling a bit off colour and I have this pain in my right arm, I wonder if I should tell someone?” . . . or more of like “I have never told you this before, but I am glad you are my friend”? Kind of suspect you mean the latter 🙂
Just letting you know that Johnny Lee’s on Enough Rope this coming monday.
P.
—————— COMING UP ——————
MONDAY SEPTEMBER 5, 9.30PM, ABC TV
Former Grand Dragon of the KKK, JOHNNY LEE CLARY.
http://www.johnnyleeclary.com/
Nobel prize-winning PROFESSOR PETER DOHERTY.
http://nobelprize.org/medicine/laureates/1996/doherty-autobio.html
“The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone.” – Harriet Beecher Stowe
These words get quoted so often they’ve almost become trite. Not so trite that they aren’t still stingingly true.
Amen. Hey, linked to you yesterday (and Wil Wheaton, but mostly you.)
😀
Hey Rodney, Just wondering if you got the cards ok last Friday? Michael was going through Perth and dropped them off at Forrest Chase for you.
Yes Amanda, I got the cards. They’re wonderful. I hope you’re able to sell a lot more.
I’ll get a cheque in the mail.
I have often wondered who would attend my funeral, and what kinds of things they would say.
Excellent, glad you like them. 🙂
You and I farewelled our fathers within a few weeks of each other back in 2002. Not long since the anniversary actually. Both those funerals stick in my mind… they were fitting events.
I heard a joke about a guy who wanted to save money, so he put in his Will that everyone should throw a shovel-full of soil, rather than a handful into his grave.
But I went to a Latvian funeral, and all the men of the community actually did throw a shovel-fulls of sand into the grave. They have a tradition that the attenders have to fill it in. That caused a stir with the staff from Karrakatta because they have a stack of special planks they use to support the walls of graves when the coffins are lowered in. So then these Karrakatta guys came over and interrupted, jumped into the grave and took out their planks… And the old Latvian guys went back to shovelling.
But for me, I’m not sure there would be enough people at my funeral. A legacy of having moved around from state to state for the last 15 years. And I’m not able to join the Latvian community for obvious reasons 🙂
Hmmm, I think I’d prefer it if people didn’t tell me what they really think of me. 🙂
Hmmm. I think I agree with Chris. And I think it is probably better if I don’t tell many other people what I think of them either 🙂