Another post on How Do You Want to be Remembered

For many years one post has always been the favorite on this blog with 16,661 views.

http://profilesandpedigrees.blogspot.com/2012/03/how-do-you-want-to-be-remembered.html

March 5, 2012, was three days after Barry's birthday, and I was thinking of him when I wrote this post. I am always surprised to find it at the top of the list of posts that have been opened this week.

But, with the pandemic going on and so many dying every single day, I think people are going on line and looking for end of life material. I hope my words help them in some way. 

We don't have to have a world crisis to ponder what we want to leave behind, whether material or otherwise. I thought of this post this past weekend as I read the obituary of a dear man I met only two years ago, but who made a lasting impression on me. He died from the corona virus.  I am sorry because he could have continued to bring such joy and happiness to his wife and his daughter in years to come. Stuart  was charming and a good conversationalist. He listened as well as talked. That seems to be a lost art these days.

I will always remember the day we met at lunch in a little restaurant in Bluffton, SC. I was there with my sister, Gay, and brother-in-law, Stu. His wife could not come, but I would meet her later when we had dinner and listened to Harry O'Donoghue, the Irish Singer we all enjoyed.

Stuart on the right behind his wife. Harry O'Donoghue at the far end of table

Our luncheon lasted about two hours, and Stuart and I talked, laughed and told our life stories. I was pleased to have made a new friend and hoped I might have the opportunity to visit with him again. When we parted and drove away, Gay said, "Thanks to you, we learned more about our friend, Stuart, than we have known in all the years we attended the same church."

I said, "He was so interesting! He was easy to talk to. I felt like I had known him a long time.

Men like Stuart don't appear in my life very often. I had the best guy in the world for me, and no one will ever take his place. Stuart and I were not flirting, just talking and enjoying getting to know each other.

I think these words said about him in his obituary best describe this man. 
A gentleman and a gentle man, Stuart loved life and viewed each day as a grand adventure. He made friends easily and kept them for life. He loved to travel, taking immense pleasure in introducing his wife and daughter to the beauty and wonder of the world.

What better way to be remembered?