Clearly, the ravages of time have not been kind, though.
The longtime reader may recall that I habitually read the obituaries in the Hooterville Daily Dish, each morning.
I have observed that many people are uncomfortable with the concept of deadness. It shows up in the many euphemisms that people substitute for dead, in announcing the death of a loved one. No one wants to face the real possibility that this is all there is, even if Peggy Lee made it quite clear.
In a perfect Merle Wayne Sneed inspired obituary, the opening sentence would read, "Joe Smith died March 25th." Succinct and to the point. Most people seem to prefer the phrase, 'passed away'. I can live with that I suppose. It does seem less abrupt, than died. They didn't abruptly stop living, they merely pssed away to somewhere else.
Some people even feel the need to modify 'passed on'. Many folks pass on peacefully or in the company of their family. Some after a courageous battle with what ailed them. They passed on, but there was more to the story than that.
According to the obits, lots of people are called home and some are even welcomed into the arms of Jesus or their loving Father. One woman's obituary went as far as to describe the scene as she was welcomed into heaven. It seems the gates were thrown open when she was welcomed in.
Lots of people feel it important to speculate on the what the deceased person is doing after death. These are some examples of things that people really wrote.
...was suddenly called home to join his beloved family in heaven.
...left this Earth...
...was chosen to be an angel...
...went to heaven in a serenade of music...
...entered into the next phase of her journey...
...ran into the loving arms of our Father God and danced before Him.
Passed away on March 8, 2009, to follow the footsteps of his beloved wife...
...and he is playing drums in heaven.
And my favorite,
...she is happy up in heaven with her sister, drinking coffee and talking about the novellas. (Spanish language soap operas.)
So there you go. As enticing as those speculations seem, I plan to go on living for the foreseeable future. Of course, when it comes to dying the foreseeable is just now. bummer.
Things in this blog represented to be fact, may or may not actually be true. The writer is frequently wrong, sometimes just full of it, but always judgmental and cranky
Mar 27, 2009
Many people have been wondering just how handsome Merle Wayne Sneed was in high school? It would be unseemly of me to judge that, but many people have commented that "damn handsome" is not an overstatement. Who am I to call people wrong?
Clearly, the ravages of time have not been kind, though.
The longtime reader may recall that I habitually read the obituaries in the Hooterville Daily Dish, each morning.
I have observed that many people are uncomfortable with the concept of deadness. It shows up in the many euphemisms that people substitute for dead, in announcing the death of a loved one. No one wants to face the real possibility that this is all there is, even if Peggy Lee made it quite clear.
In a perfect Merle Wayne Sneed inspired obituary, the opening sentence would read, "Joe Smith died March 25th." Succinct and to the point. Most people seem to prefer the phrase, 'passed away'. I can live with that I suppose. It does seem less abrupt, than died. They didn't abruptly stop living, they merely pssed away to somewhere else.
Some people even feel the need to modify 'passed on'. Many folks pass on peacefully or in the company of their family. Some after a courageous battle with what ailed them. They passed on, but there was more to the story than that.
According to the obits, lots of people are called home and some are even welcomed into the arms of Jesus or their loving Father. One woman's obituary went as far as to describe the scene as she was welcomed into heaven. It seems the gates were thrown open when she was welcomed in.
Lots of people feel it important to speculate on the what the deceased person is doing after death. These are some examples of things that people really wrote.
...was suddenly called home to join his beloved family in heaven.
...left this Earth...
...was chosen to be an angel...
...went to heaven in a serenade of music...
...entered into the next phase of her journey...
...ran into the loving arms of our Father God and danced before Him.
Passed away on March 8, 2009, to follow the footsteps of his beloved wife...
...and he is playing drums in heaven.
And my favorite,
...she is happy up in heaven with her sister, drinking coffee and talking about the novellas. (Spanish language soap operas.)
So there you go. As enticing as those speculations seem, I plan to go on living for the foreseeable future. Of course, when it comes to dying the foreseeable is just now. bummer.
Things in this blog represented to be fact, may or may not actually be true. The writer is frequently wrong, sometimes just full of it, but always judgmental and cranky
Clearly, the ravages of time have not been kind, though.
The longtime reader may recall that I habitually read the obituaries in the Hooterville Daily Dish, each morning.
I have observed that many people are uncomfortable with the concept of deadness. It shows up in the many euphemisms that people substitute for dead, in announcing the death of a loved one. No one wants to face the real possibility that this is all there is, even if Peggy Lee made it quite clear.
In a perfect Merle Wayne Sneed inspired obituary, the opening sentence would read, "Joe Smith died March 25th." Succinct and to the point. Most people seem to prefer the phrase, 'passed away'. I can live with that I suppose. It does seem less abrupt, than died. They didn't abruptly stop living, they merely pssed away to somewhere else.
Some people even feel the need to modify 'passed on'. Many folks pass on peacefully or in the company of their family. Some after a courageous battle with what ailed them. They passed on, but there was more to the story than that.
According to the obits, lots of people are called home and some are even welcomed into the arms of Jesus or their loving Father. One woman's obituary went as far as to describe the scene as she was welcomed into heaven. It seems the gates were thrown open when she was welcomed in.
Lots of people feel it important to speculate on the what the deceased person is doing after death. These are some examples of things that people really wrote.
...was suddenly called home to join his beloved family in heaven.
...left this Earth...
...was chosen to be an angel...
...went to heaven in a serenade of music...
...entered into the next phase of her journey...
...ran into the loving arms of our Father God and danced before Him.
Passed away on March 8, 2009, to follow the footsteps of his beloved wife...
...and he is playing drums in heaven.
And my favorite,
...she is happy up in heaven with her sister, drinking coffee and talking about the novellas. (Spanish language soap operas.)
So there you go. As enticing as those speculations seem, I plan to go on living for the foreseeable future. Of course, when it comes to dying the foreseeable is just now. bummer.
Things in this blog represented to be fact, may or may not actually be true. The writer is frequently wrong, sometimes just full of it, but always judgmental and cranky
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
11 comments:
1. Merle are you sure that handsome young fellow in the photo is you???
2. I think you are spending way too long reading the obituaries these days. :)...
Ms Soup
Dancing?!
Well it is all there is to this particular existence. As for what happens afterwards, who knows? We'll all find out sometime or another.
One of my working theories is that people go wherever they think they're going after death. This is why I refuse to believe in Hell thank you very much.
All those euphemisms people use in obits - they're silly aren't they? But if they help people through the grieving process, why not?
Merle Sneed you were the HANDSOMEST, most sensitive and beautiful young man. But you still are - I've seen the photo documentation. You are beautiful.
Oh, you were one of the cute boys.
If anyone cares, I'd prefer to be serenaded by music... maybe a nice selection by the Temptations.
You were a knock-out in high school. I would have loved to have you in my class, and we might have graduated just about the same year.
As for those who can't face death and call it that, they are probably also the ones who refer to cancer as C____, being afraid they will get it if they say the word.
You are a looker, all right.
Obituaries can be fun reads, I agree.
Very serious photo --you look a bit like young Harrison Ford in the film "the conversation" --or when he was in Am. Graffiti. Fabulous Darling!
A high school photo, an eerie song, obits----good job on the death theme!
Forgive me, but all I can think of now is the Monty Python "parrot" skit, with all the death euphemisms..."pushing up the daisies," "joined the choir invisible."
My favorite is "crossed over," like it's a river or something. (Actually, in mythology, it often IS a river...)
Anyway, love the photo! These historic Sneed family pics are fascinating! :)
We were all handsome once.
Yup, you're hot.
Post a Comment