My father died in 1992 at the age of 62 from pancreatic cancer. He knew he was terminal, and he planned his memorial service and his funeral and even approved his obituary. He had my brother, and I make all of the arrangements according to his instructions while he was in the hospital for the last time. After reading this thread and thinking about that, I started rethinking my desire not to have an obituary. I sat down and wrote up what I would like as an obituary. I modified the instructions in my death file and put in a copy of my desired obituary. I intend to update the obituary periodically as circumstances change. So if any of you assholes read the the obituary below in the Houston Chronicle, you will know that old NMAS has passed on.
NMAS was born on birthdate and died on deathdate. He is survived by his mother, Mom NMAS, his children NMAS, III, NMAS Son #2, NMAS Son #3, and NMAS Daughter; his grandson NMAS Grandson; and Sebastian, his best friend and constant companion. Besides having four wonderful children and a fantastic grandson, NMAS never accomplished much in his life other than being the undeserving recipient of a tremendous amount of love from numerous canine companions. NMAS looks forward to reuniting with Cocoa, Gandy, Prince, Duke, and, at some point, Sebastian. NMAS also hopes that when he is reunited, Duke will forgive him. During his life, NMAS traveled to some amazing places and had some truly unique experiences. Still, he regrets having never been able to walk the Camino de Santiago nor drive the Pan American Highway from Texas to South America. However, in the end, he recognized it was time for him to go. NMAS requests that any acquaintances of his who are so inclined and who do not harbor entirely negative feelings toward him make contributions, in Sebastian’s name, to the Houston SPCA, Citizens for Animal Protection, or the no-kill animal shelter of their choice.