Having an obituary written about you is a sign that you have lived a life of note. You might have done or experienced a variety of things to reach those pages: received a significant award, died in battle, raised notable sums for the local hospice, or massacred one’s own people. Still, the only way to have an obituary published is to have died, just like everybody else before you. Remembering is distinct from memorializing. In the immediate days or weeks after a non-celebrity’s death, local obituary writers search for the facts. This approach is perhaps even helpful to the reader: Who should be referenced in a With Sympathy card? Is there a request for flowers, or charity donations? It is only once the reach of a life has been noted that its impact might then be assessed. Mourners require time to judge how to honor a person’s legacy, This story is from Kinfolk Issue Thirty-Nine Buy Now Related Stories Arts & Culture Issue 47 Alice Sheppard On dance as a channel to commune with the body—even when it hurts. Arts & Culture Issue 47 Dr. Woo Meet the tattoo artist who's inked LA. Arts & Culture Issue 47 Walt Odets The author and clinical psychologist on why self-acceptance is the key to a gay man's well-being. Arts & Culture Fashion Issue 47 A Picture of Health Xiaopeng Yuan photographs the world’s weirdest wellness cures. Arts & Culture Issue 47 Chani Nicholas and Sonya Passi Inside the astrology company on a mission to prove workplace well-being is more than a corporate tagline. Arts & Culture Issue 47 Julia Bainbridge On the life-enhancing potential of not drinking alcohol.
Arts & Culture Issue 47 Alice Sheppard On dance as a channel to commune with the body—even when it hurts.
Arts & Culture Issue 47 Walt Odets The author and clinical psychologist on why self-acceptance is the key to a gay man's well-being.
Arts & Culture Fashion Issue 47 A Picture of Health Xiaopeng Yuan photographs the world’s weirdest wellness cures.
Arts & Culture Issue 47 Chani Nicholas and Sonya Passi Inside the astrology company on a mission to prove workplace well-being is more than a corporate tagline.
