A few days ago, a teenager was killed at Six Flags Over Georgia. He jumped two 6-foot fences to enter a restricted area underneath the Batman roller coaster, presumably to retrieve a hat that had flown off while he was enjoying the ride. He was decapitated by the coaster as it flew by.
Tragic. Especially since he was so young.
But what interested me most about the story wasn't how the accident happened. It was what his family members told the press that were covering the story.
A teary-eyed aunt of the boy said he "loved to eat," and he "was a ladies man."
She meant it sincerely, I'm sure. But it sounded so, so ... I mean, couldn't they come up with something better to sum up that boy's life?
It got me thinking. What will people -- friends and family -- say about me when I die? It's not morbid; just practical. Let's face it, the only two things that are for sure in this life is that we'll all be born and we'll all die. Sooner or later.
I'm not even sure what I WANT people to say. Maybe that I loved to write, I loved my family, I put everything in me into everything I did (except waiting tables). I loved to laugh. To smile. I loved long walks on the beach?
How do you define a person in a couple of words? A 10-second news bit? I have no idea. There are the standard, "She loved life" bits. The obligatory "She loved God and her family" comments.
It's easier, by far, to pick what I wouldn't want people to say. Like, for example, "She loved to eat." Or "She could drink most men under the table." Maybe even "Every once in a while she skipped brushing her teeth before she went to bed."
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It's funny, but I always wondered what people at the MDJ, and eventually the Rome News-Tribune, said after I left. I learned that people at the MDJ were pretty damn two-faced which is evident by the fact that I have a hard time getting ahold of most people I used to work with. I heard some good comments about me, but others refuse to say anything, which makes me wonder how much they were lying to my face. But when I die, will the truth come out about what they really thought? What will people ultimately say about what "Mario" was really like? What were his faults, pros, cons, etc.? I can only hope that people will be honest about how they felt, no matter how it would've affected me when I was alive. How accurate or not those words may be, only those that took time to know the real me and welcome me into their hearts will know the truth.
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