An obituary is not just a piece of writing but the life of a person abridged in those few paragraphs. It is also a record of the milestones in one’s life and touches upon his interests, hobbies and achievements as well. Usually this job is left for the family of the deceased to perform, or in case of famous personalities, media companies take it upon themselves to issue an obituary, however, recently, a change in this trend has been observed; people are actually opting to pre-write their own obituaries.

 

While some may find this quite strange, even depressing or gloomy, writing your own obituary can actually be an activity of self-reflection. If you write your own obituary, it gives you the control to pen it however you want, highlighting the aspects of your life that you find most significant. You can talk about your dreams and aspirations and can continue to edit it with time. You can even add details about what contributions you may have made to the lives of others or moments only you know the worth of.

Not just that, your loved ones may thank you for penning down your obituary by yourself since this is a task that requires a lot of attention, care and even research. Also, the timing is so crucial that the immediate family is not really in the best state of mind to construct the obituary as they might truly want to since the loss is still so fresh and raw. A person who has worked on his own obituary does a favor to his family in a way by leaving them with some basic structure, if not the complete write-out, to begin with.

There is also a sense of control and power that you can have if you write your own obituary. You have the full liberty to share the details and information that you desire, and focus on the aspects of your life that are most dear to you. Being the last word about you, your obituary can be a significant memory etched in the minds of your loved ones to remember you by. A pre-written obituary obviously gives the author a lot of time to phrase and rephrase, a luxury not available once a person has passed away since, usually,  there are hardly more than 72 hours within which the obituary needs to be ready and out.

No wonder newspapers and media houses have pre-written obituaries for celebrities since they understand how crucial it would be to have just the right words and facts to summarize his life and contribution and understanding the value of time, they stay a step ahead in case a sudden tragedy may occur.

Knowing that even when you are gone, your words will live on to tell about you and life can be a very comforting thought. No one knows your life, your joys and your struggles better than you, then who better is suited to state the milestones of your life than you, yourself! You can also have some quotes suggested to your family members to be printed on the granite headstones.