Sorry, I can’t resist… “Mark, I’ll be in the jewelry department.”

No more pie for old Pi.

My mother just passed away this June and she made certain what would be in her obituary by writing it herself. She was an old school Southern lady and (Liz, you will appreciate this, and Julia!) believed you only were supposed to have your name in the paper when you were born, married and died - nothing more. In the last years of her life she would point out the “tacky and outrageous” obits often found in our conservative North Florida paper. She promised that if we added any colorful language (such as, “The Lord lifted her up to be with the Angels” or “called her Home”), she would personally come from the beyond and make our lives a living hell. Curious talk coming from a woman raised as a Southern Baptist, yet became a very devout Episcopalian, which was a better fit for her golf-playing, country club member, very well-respected lawyer husband (who was a saint in his own right). So, consequently, her obit read like her entry in “Who’s Who in American Colleges” long, long ago (which I might add she put herself through Stetson University with scholarships and part-time jobs), with the additions of her charitable work (not overly praising) and her association with various organizations. Not that us kids - all in our 50’s - would have necessarily changed anything - but it did read like a fact-checker’s notes, certainly not like a loving tribute to a well-loved woman. One thing that compelled me to comment on this particular subject is that my mother gave her children a great gift. She planned everything from the obit, the simple graveside service for the family only, early on a certain to be hot June morning, she chose the hymns, and the readings she wanted for the later memorial service at her church, she even chose the caterer for the reception afterward. What she didn’t know was that her oldest grandson gave the most interesting and wry eulogy, with great dignity and humor. She would have been so proud and touched, and I’m sure she was there. She also made endless lists of who got what: jewelry, furniture, china, crystal, books, etc., which at the time she made me type all this up, seemed morbid to me. It turns out to be her greatest legacy - we will abid by the lists, I want no further drama. As her primary caretaker the last few weeks of her life, I’m pretty much done. It’s been a lesson learned, and one I plan to follow. I guess her motto could be: “Leave nothing to chance.”

- NEXT…

I’d say “Thanks, it was fun, But gotta go”!

A Real Human Being Who Warned People Of The Warmongerors Plan of Dick Cheney to cause Americans kill Americans We have the Pearl Harbor, and 9/11-Incident. Here is another attempt to fabricate casus belli between Tehran and Washington. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20398.htm To Provoke War Cheney Considered Proposal To Dress Up Navy Seals As Iranians And Shoot At Them By Faiz 01/08/08 “Think Progress” —- Speaking at the Campus Progress journalism conference earlier this month, Seymour Hersh — a Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist for The New Yorker — revealed that Bush administration officials held a meeting recently in the Vice President’s office to discuss ways to provoke a war with Iran. In Hersh’s most recent article, he reports that this meeting occurred in the wake of the overblown incident in the Strait of Hormuz, when a U.S. carrier almost shot at a few small Iranian speedboats. The “meeting took place in the Vice-President’s office. ‘The subject was how to create a casus belli between Tehran and Washington,’” according to one of Hersh’s sources. During the journalism conference event, I asked Hersh specifically about this meeting and if he could elaborate on what occurred. Hersh explained that, during the meeting in Cheney’s office, an idea was considered to dress up Navy Seals as Iranians, put them on fake Iranian speedboats, and shoot at them. This idea, intended to provoke an Iran war, was ultimately rejected: HERSH: There was a dozen ideas proffered about how to trigger a war. The one that interested me the most was why don’t we build — we in our shipyard — build four or five boats that look like Iranian PT boats. Put Navy seals on them with a lot of arms. And next time one of our boats goes to the Straits of Hormuz, start a shoot-up. Might cost some lives. And it was rejected because you can’t have Americans killing Americans. That’s the kind of — that’s the level of stuff we’re talking about. Provocation. But that was rejected. Watch it: Hersh argued that one of the things the Bush administration learned during the encounter in the Strait of Hormuz was that, “if you get the right incident, the American public will support” it. “Look, is it high school? Yeah,” Hersh said. “Are we playing high school with you know 5,000 nuclear warheads in our arsenal? Yeah we are. We’re playing, you know, who’s the first guy to run off the highway with us and Iran.” Transcript: HERSH: There was a meeting. Among the items considered and rejected — which is why the New Yorker did not publish it, on grounds that it wasn’t accepted — one of the items was why not… There was a dozen ideas proffered about how to trigger a war. The one that interested me the most was why don’t we build — we in our shipyard — build four or five boats that look like Iranian PT boats. Put Navy seals on them with a lot of arms. And next time one of our boats goes to the Straits of Hormuz, start a shoot-up. Might cost some lives. And it was rejected because you can’t have Americans killing Americans. That’s the kind of — that’s the level of stuff we’re talking about. Provocation. But that was rejected. So I can understand the argument for not writing something that was rejected — uh maybe. My attitude always towards editors is they’re mice training to be rats. But the point is jejune, if you know what that means. Silly? Maybe. But potentially very lethal. Because one of the things they learned in the incident was the American public, if you get the right incident, the American public will support bang-bang-kiss-kiss. You know, we’re into it. …What happened in the Gulf was, in the Straits, in early January, the President was just about to go to the Middle East for a visit. So that was one reason they wanted to gin it up. Get it going. Look, is it high school? Yeah. Are we playing high school with you know 5,000 nuclear warheads in our arsenal? Yeah we are. We’re playing, you know, who’s the first guy to run off the highway with us and Iran. Click on “comments” below to read or post comments Comments (12) Comment (0) Posted by: Dr. Murray M. Morgan

Actually I’ve written my own Eulogy……… Years ago when I was a volunteer at the ‘Centre for Living with dying’. ( An organization who give’s counseling to people who are dying and also grief counceling to those who have lost loved one.) One of the exercises we did during a training session was to write a letter to be read at your own funeral. I did this years ago and I update it periodically. It’s a wonderful thing to do. A great way to say your goodby’s to all your loved ones. It’s fun because you can add humorous things to the dialogue. I’ve left instructions that someone of my families choice will read it at my funeral………..I also told them jokingly if they don’t have it read I will come back and haunt them. Over the years I’ve given many eulogy’s at funerals. So this will be my last one. Even if you don’t want to write your own eulogy you might like to write a goodby letter to all those you love and with instructions for them to read after your death. How many times have you heard people say they wish they could go back in time and tell someone they loved just one more time that they loved them. By writing things about each one of them and saying your last goodbye is a wonderful gift to leave behind.

“I’ll be right back….”

‘I’m Coming Back” and I mean it.