One of my great pleasures each week is to sit down with the Sunday New York Times and a big cup o’ Joe. I’m talking the real, printed, covered-in-newsprint-ink-when-you’re-done New York Times; not on a digital reader or computer screen (not that there’s anything wrong with that).
I love the NYT and I’ve been reading it for years. I can easily while away hours when I have the time to read it from cover to cover. I’ll admit to loving – still – the Magazine, the Style section (can’t believe she wore that hat with that dress!), and the Business section where the different schools of thought in business, economics, and politics duke it out. But my guiltiest reading pleasure in the Sunday Times…?
The Obituaries.
That’s right; I love reading about other people’s lives, even if it is on the sad occasion of their deaths. Reading the obits – especially those in the Times because they cover the lives and deaths of remarkable people from around the world – is a great way to learn about the people who’ve recently passed as well as the era in which they lived, and, most inspiring, the impact many of these people have had on our lives even if we didn’t know it before reading their obituaries.
For example, this past Sunday’s times included an obituary for Betty Haas Pfister, who died on November 17 at the age of 90. Ms. Haas, a pilot since 1942, undoubtedly made a difference in my life, entering a field and a war (she was a member of the 1,074-strong WASPs in WWII) where few women were allowed. In later years, Ms. Haas worked as an aircraft mechanic and then bought and flew her own plane in competitions and races, twice winning the All Women’s International Air Race. I, like all women in the U.S. today, have people like Ms. Haas to thank for paving the way to greater equality for women. And how exciting to read about her life and feel that connection on some lazy Sunday?!
For what is an obituary – at least a well-written obituary – after all, but a story? The story of someone’s life and often a celebration of that life. Which leads me to my next point: what would any of us want our obituary to say, and what do we do to be sure that it says that? How do we want someone to feel after they’ve read our obituaries?
Thinking about this can be a strong motivator. It’s enough to prompt me to think about what my life story is so far and what additional accomplishments I want celebrated in my obituary. And with our life stories still being written each and every day, the content of our obituaries – the stories of our lives – is completely in our control.
