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Nice obituary picture enough incentive for camera-shy subjects

Subhead
Ruminations
Lead Summary
By
Mavis Fodness, reporter

We are all going to die someday.
It is a fact. Simply put.
But we humans continue to deny or simply ignore death as a part of our lifecycles. We are often unprepared when the Grim Reaper comes calling.
Unprepared as having one part of the burial ritual already completed for family members: The obituary.
Yep. The obit.
A written account of someone’s life that typically includes their name, age, date of birth, death, etc., often stated in about the same manner as other obituaries.
In newspaper lingo, we call these similar in verbiage obituaries as formatted. I personally like the other option: The verbatim. This is where obituaries take on a little bit of flair.
Think about it as interviewing someone for a story. It doesn’t have to be over-the-top unbelievable but something that would make you smile in remembrance instead of invoking the normal tears that the loved one is gone.
Remember, an obituary is documentation that someone lived. It’s printed and archived in newspapers for future generations to uncover.
Take Aaron Purmort’s obit, for instance.
The 35-year-old from Minneapolis was battling cancer two years ago. Reality was that the disease would eventually take his life. Before it was too late, Purmort wrote a comic book-inspired death announcement, putting a creative spin on his life story.
Here, in part, is what he wrote.
“Purmort, Aaron Joseph, 35, died peacefully at home on November 25 after complications from a radioactive spider bite that led to years of crime-fighting and a years-long battle with a nefarious criminal named Cancer, who has plagued our society for far too long.”
Among the other information (real and fictional) was that he was survived by his wife, Nora, and their son, Ralph, “who will grow up to avenge his father’s untimely death.”
We don’t have to be that elaborate with our obituaries.
I personally like in another obit that listed the sister’s name in “whywouldyoueverlivethere Rhode Island.”
The obit doesn’t have to be funny; it could just be a beautiful tribute to a loved one — a tribute that oftentimes is ruined by a blurry, dark photo.
Years as a picture taker has led me to understand obits with blurry photos are a result of that person not cooperating with a photographer.
As a journalist I’ve met a lot of those people.
Whatever the reason, as I place the camera to my eye, my subjects duck or turn their head or, worse, place their hands over their face. This evasive maneuver produces those blurry pictures of loved ones.
My advice: Stop being camera shy.
Swallow whatever pride you have, put on a smiley face for the camera just in case — ahem — you die tomorrow. Not only will your family have several keepsakes from the event, but they will also have a remembrance of what you looked like.
Cooperation will also result in a decent photo to use with your obituary.

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