This is the front page from my Sunday paper and the things I picked up on my walk Sunday morning.
I love the Sunday paper. I usually pick one up at the end of my walk. I know, I know they have "just Sunday" subscriptions (is that the right word?) but I like the idea of going out to get a paper. Besides then I can see what's new in the convenience store world. Like, did you know they now sell fruit and candy flavored cigars?!!! Shesssh, if you are going to kill yourself that way, why not just man up and take it the old fashioned, smelly, stinky tobacco flavored way? Sweet death? Unbelievable and gross, but back to the paper.
I love the Sunday paper, not just because it is chock full of ads for things I never knew I wanted and coupons to get those things for sometimes even as much as 25 cents less than I would have paid had I known I wanted that particular item, but because everything seems so important in the Sunday paper. HEADLINES are more inflammatory!! More exclamation points!! (and you know how I love those!!) Everything seems to be more important or exciting because it made the Sunday paper!!
But mostly I love the Sunday paper because of the obituaries and the 50th anniversary notices. Now stay with me, it isn't a s ghoulish as it sounds. I love both of those features for the same reason, I am intrigued by what words are used to describe these life events.
I read with interest to see how these people are talked about. Do they list what they did or talk about who they were? Do they talk about who they are leaving behind or who they think they are going to? Is it a grocery list of where they lived, worked and attended school or do they talk about how they touched lives, changed their community, contributed to society or something else personal about them? Every once in a while, one really stands out, like the woman last week who died at the ripe old age of 83 and they listed all of the cheerleading awards she won in high school. Was that the last great thing she did? Or was it the last time she was recognized for something? Hum...and she seemed to have a full life since then, why was it important for us to know that about her? Sometimes they are short and to the point, he lived, he died and now we are saying goodbye. Sometimes they are extensive, expansive and include testimonials from other people. Our paper doesn't include pictures as some do, but they certainly specialize in word pictures.
It does the same thing for those amazing people who last 50 (and sometimes more!!) years as a couple. Usually they talk about how they celebrated the event but mostly it is that same kind of grocery list. They tell us where they lived and who they worked for and talk about their kids. Some times they include how they met and who "attended" them at their wedding. I love the idea of people staying together for that long and still wanting to celebrate it! My favorite "extra" bit is from a few weeks ago, they closed with this: "In addition to loving each other, we both share duties around the house, and" they said " we both like to take good and long vacations away." It didn't say whether they went on those vacations together.
I love the Sunday paper, not just because it is chock full of ads for things I never knew I wanted and coupons to get those things for sometimes even as much as 25 cents less than I would have paid had I known I wanted that particular item, but because everything seems so important in the Sunday paper. HEADLINES are more inflammatory!! More exclamation points!! (and you know how I love those!!) Everything seems to be more important or exciting because it made the Sunday paper!!
But mostly I love the Sunday paper because of the obituaries and the 50th anniversary notices. Now stay with me, it isn't a s ghoulish as it sounds. I love both of those features for the same reason, I am intrigued by what words are used to describe these life events.
I read with interest to see how these people are talked about. Do they list what they did or talk about who they were? Do they talk about who they are leaving behind or who they think they are going to? Is it a grocery list of where they lived, worked and attended school or do they talk about how they touched lives, changed their community, contributed to society or something else personal about them? Every once in a while, one really stands out, like the woman last week who died at the ripe old age of 83 and they listed all of the cheerleading awards she won in high school. Was that the last great thing she did? Or was it the last time she was recognized for something? Hum...and she seemed to have a full life since then, why was it important for us to know that about her? Sometimes they are short and to the point, he lived, he died and now we are saying goodbye. Sometimes they are extensive, expansive and include testimonials from other people. Our paper doesn't include pictures as some do, but they certainly specialize in word pictures.
It does the same thing for those amazing people who last 50 (and sometimes more!!) years as a couple. Usually they talk about how they celebrated the event but mostly it is that same kind of grocery list. They tell us where they lived and who they worked for and talk about their kids. Some times they include how they met and who "attended" them at their wedding. I love the idea of people staying together for that long and still wanting to celebrate it! My favorite "extra" bit is from a few weeks ago, they closed with this: "In addition to loving each other, we both share duties around the house, and" they said " we both like to take good and long vacations away." It didn't say whether they went on those vacations together.
3 comments:
Great post...I love that you walk to buy your Sunday paper. and YES, love the 50th anniversary stories...we have a couples item each Sunday that highlights a selected couple, how they met, their likes and dislikes...very fun to read.
AND very sad your Sunday cover story, losing Paul Newman..
Thank you for articulating why I love the Sunday paper too. Although I don't walk for mine (I would forget if I had to walk for it).
Your reflections bring to mind an intersting writing prompt. Like, if we wrote our own obiturary, what would we want it to read? What was important to us? Yeah, I know this is not a new idea, but how many of us have ever done this excercise?
And, if Mark and I are still alive to celebrate our 50th, what would we write? I should have Mark make one up off the top of his head now to use years later down the road. It should be quite amusing.
Great post!
I agree, great post! I love the way you express the things that you observe in life.
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