Who’s going to fact check an obituary?
That was the perspective of Norma R. Brewer when she penned her own obituary. You can’t blame her!
The obituary claims the cause of the 83-year-old Connecticut woman’s death was hypothermia after her dog ate her socks and boots at the base of Mount Kilimanjaro. Norma died while attempting to climb the 19,341-foot mountain, Africa’s tallest peak. She never realized her life goal of reaching the summit but made it to the base camp where she died in the company of her daughter, her cats, and her dog “Mia,” who all joined the trek at the last minute.
“There is suspicion that Mrs. Brewer died from hypothermia, after Mia ate Mrs. Brewer’s warm winter boots and socks,” read the death notice.
“It was just typical mom,” Norma’s daughter Donna was reported saying with a chuckle. “She always had stories, many of which were not true, but thought were funny.”
Donna said her mother actually died from a stroke and had been wheelchair-bound for more than a year.
“People who know my mother are laughing and saying, ‘Yeah, that’s Norma.'”
Some were wondering if the death notice was one last foray into the news, or a test of the fact-checking process?
“Possibly,” said Raymond, Norma’s son. “It more had more to do with the way she viewed the world. While life is serious, it shouldn’t be taken all that serious.”
You know what? I agree with her.
I deal with questions of death and incapacity every day. How depressing would it be if I didn’t make it lighthearted every now and then?
“Life is serious, but shouldn’t be taken that seriously.” Great words to live by.
To Your Prosperity,
