Several years ago, someone told me that high schoolers in a creative writing class were asked to write their obituary. That's rather morbid, but I'm sure it made the kids stop and think about what they had accomplished. I had to do something similar the past few days. I was asked to submit an article and write a brief biography to accompany it. The article wasn't too terribly taxing, but the biography!!!...I had to look over my whole life and pick out the good stuff. For some reason, I felt a wave of modesty that was completely out of character for me. After 57 years, I had to look back at what I've accomplished and write it down. It was harder than I imagined. There are no letters or titles after my name. I was never a candidate for "Who's Who." I deal more in the area of "What's What." What HAVE I been doing all this time?
My bio tried to portray my finer qualities. Shoot, it was hard to think of more than one, but I'm told I can be amusing. I had to appear interesting but not pompous. People who know me well, know I love to be pompous, makes me feel superior. I tend to agree. But I don't know about admitting to that in an open forum. Putting it in print is another ball of wax. What if someone reads it and laughs? What if I forget the one really great thing I'd like to be remembered for? What IS the one great thing I'd like to be remembered for? The scrutiny is unbelievable!!
I've decided that this was way too draining. My dreams of writing that great American novel are now behind me. I couldn't take the pressure of the jacket cover. And I'll leave my obit to my friends!!
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