Must-See Sections of the Local Paper

Yesterday, a few seconds after I picked up the weekly newspaper, I realized I’m not exactly twenty-five anymore.  Instead of the headlines, or the photo of kids from the day care centre, my eyes bee-lined to the bottom left hand corner. 

 

When I first moved here, I mocked this feature.  The corner is squared off with an ominous black line.  The title, "Obituaries", is followed by a short list of names, then the compelling announcement (in italics):  "Details Inside".  The next few names aren't so lucky:  "Details Next Week".  If you're going to die in Weyburn, try to do it before Tuesday at noon. 

 

As a child overnighting with my grandparents, I was horrified each morning when they’d turn the radio – a bit too eagerly, I thought - to the Swift Current A.M. station in time to catch the obituary report.  “Just making sure I’m not on the list,” Grandpa always joked.  What kind of people would do this?

 

A few years ago my (much younger) brother called.  Shocked.  “I knew someone in the obituaries”, he said.  “I was just leafing through the paper, and there was someone I knew in there!”  Turned out the woman in question was older than our mother.  But still. 

 

Then an old friend who’d moved to another city phoned me at my office early one morning.  “I guess you’ve seen the paper,” he said, voice shaking.  I’d seen the headlines, but couldn’t guess what he was talking about.  I soon found out his mother had died.  His relatives had run an announcement, and he was waiting to hear from sympathetic friends.  None of us had a clue. 

 

So, now I’m reading the obituaries.  I’m pretending to myself that I’m just doing it to keep on top of the news.  But I doubt I’m fooling anyone.

 

Comments

[Sally Tubello]

That's pretty much the only thing I ever found remotely interesting in the Regina paper (when we used to get it, that is).

There's something really interesting about the way people who have passed on had lived their lives.

[Maureen]

Timely post. My maternal grandmother passed away after midnight this morning; in many ways, it was a blessing. She would have met the Weyburn newspaper's deadline but it will likely be in Estevan's instead. The funeral is expected on Sat but not sure what our plans are...