Wasted Lives and Sad Obituaries
It was not long after I first came across one of John Piper’s books in the Family Christian Store a few years ago that he became one of my favorite authors and Bible expositors. I own almost every book he has ever written. His sermon and subsequent book entitled “Don’t Waste Your Life” made a deep impact in my life. In light of that the sad truth is the many people do waste their lives. I showed up to work this morning and the title of an article in the Corpus Christi Caller Times caught my eye. It read Woman Devotes Life to Hounds. That’s right. A life “devoted” to dogs. I’ll refrain from further commentary on that. I am just saying that at face value, well, it’s sad especially if the title of the article is a true summation of this woman’s life. It probably is not, but then again, you never know. Yes, yes, I know. That sounds mean, but if that shocks you then this obituary will do so even more. Dolores Aguilar passed away at 79 years of age on August 7, 2008. Her daughter wrote a brutally honest obituary on the Times-Herald of Vallejo, California. From what I understand after looking up several sources it appears that the rest of the family agreed with what her daughter, Virginia Brown, expressed. She wrote,
“Dolores had no hobbies, made no contribution to society and rarely shared a kind word or deed in her life. I speak for the majority of her family when I say her presence will not be missed by many, very few tears will be shed and there will be no lamenting over her passing…Her family will remember Dolores and amongst ourselves we will remember her in our own way, which were mostly sad and troubling times throughout the years. We may have some fond memories of her and perhaps we will think of those times too. But I truly believe at the end of the day ALL of us will really only miss what we never had, a good and kind mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. I hope she is finally at peace with herself. As for the rest of us left behind, I hope this is the beginning of a time of healing and learning to be a family again. There will be no service, no prayers and no closure for the family she spent a lifetime tearing apart. We cannot come together in the end to see to it that her grandchildren and great-grandchildren can say their goodbyes. So I say here for all of us, GOOD BYE, MOM.”
“There will be no service, no prayers and no closure for the family she spent a lifetime tearing apart?” Wow. So how will you be remembered? Don’t waste your life.
“Dolores had no hobbies, made no contribution to society and rarely shared a kind word or deed in her life. I speak for the majority of her family when I say her presence will not be missed by many, very few tears will be shed and there will be no lamenting over her passing…Her family will remember Dolores and amongst ourselves we will remember her in our own way, which were mostly sad and troubling times throughout the years. We may have some fond memories of her and perhaps we will think of those times too. But I truly believe at the end of the day ALL of us will really only miss what we never had, a good and kind mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. I hope she is finally at peace with herself. As for the rest of us left behind, I hope this is the beginning of a time of healing and learning to be a family again. There will be no service, no prayers and no closure for the family she spent a lifetime tearing apart. We cannot come together in the end to see to it that her grandchildren and great-grandchildren can say their goodbyes. So I say here for all of us, GOOD BYE, MOM.”
“There will be no service, no prayers and no closure for the family she spent a lifetime tearing apart?” Wow. So how will you be remembered? Don’t waste your life.
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