It's not often that one gets to write an obituary. I had to write one recently. Not a real obituary in the sense that someone died mind you. I had to write an obituary for my Journalism 101 class on a classmate. I have a playful side and that side of me couldn't help but throw in a couple of good zingers and as much as I would've liked to go full on satire with this obituary a la those roasts we've come to know, I had to be somewhat serious with this. My grade depended on it.
As I was writing out this obit for a person I had just met, I started to think about my very own obituary. Not the one that the person is writing on me for this assignment. For the record, I told her to use her imagination and take me out in the weirdest and funniest way. She laughed at the thought but then pressed me for a serious answer as to how I'd like to die so I told her take me out as I was covering a news story (I hope she picked an active shooter on campus because that's one way to go out as a photojournalist covering a breaking news story). The real obituary, for when I do actually go out, was on my mind.
I entertained the thought of who would actually write it out? I'm not famous so it's not like some reporter has a pre-made obituary waiting for me when I die. Oh yeah, pre-made obituaries for famous people are a reality. You know, because breaking news. So someone would have to actually pay whatever newspaper "x" amount of money like an advertisement for the obituary to go to print, and then actually write it. What would that person say about me and how I lived my life? Also, which kind person in my circle of friends and family would go out and do this?
Normally I don't think about this stuff. It has occurred to me a couple of times but this assignment in particular brought upon these thoughts. I find it fascinating on many different levels.
As for what type of death I chose for my fellow Journalism 101 classmate? I killed her off in a caffeine overdose trying to write out my obituary.
***Updated in italics to convey context to a fictional scenario. Not to condone, glorify or convey a sense of disrespect with regards to such a situation. It's a tough subject to talk about considering such situations have happened but at the same time, being a photojournalist working with a school's publication, it is a scenario in which someone could die in a fictional scenario with some regard to reality***
As I was writing out this obit for a person I had just met, I started to think about my very own obituary. Not the one that the person is writing on me for this assignment. For the record, I told her to use her imagination and take me out in the weirdest and funniest way. She laughed at the thought but then pressed me for a serious answer as to how I'd like to die so I told her take me out as I was covering a news story (I hope she picked an active shooter on campus because that's one way to go out as a photojournalist covering a breaking news story). The real obituary, for when I do actually go out, was on my mind.
I entertained the thought of who would actually write it out? I'm not famous so it's not like some reporter has a pre-made obituary waiting for me when I die. Oh yeah, pre-made obituaries for famous people are a reality. You know, because breaking news. So someone would have to actually pay whatever newspaper "x" amount of money like an advertisement for the obituary to go to print, and then actually write it. What would that person say about me and how I lived my life? Also, which kind person in my circle of friends and family would go out and do this?
Normally I don't think about this stuff. It has occurred to me a couple of times but this assignment in particular brought upon these thoughts. I find it fascinating on many different levels.
As for what type of death I chose for my fellow Journalism 101 classmate? I killed her off in a caffeine overdose trying to write out my obituary.
***Updated in italics to convey context to a fictional scenario. Not to condone, glorify or convey a sense of disrespect with regards to such a situation. It's a tough subject to talk about considering such situations have happened but at the same time, being a photojournalist working with a school's publication, it is a scenario in which someone could die in a fictional scenario with some regard to reality***