I have a Facebook account — so, I guess I’m a “member” of that community. Anyone that wants to check, will find that I don’t contribute to Facebook, and only periodically check the site. The first time I heard of it and after the first time I’d seen it, my thought was that this is a “dangerous” site. I think the idea of it is pretty cool, but even I could immediately think of hundreds of ways it could be mis-used. My opinion hasn’t changed, but that’s not what this morning’s ramblings are about.
This morning, after checking my e-mail and reading a bit about the Super Tuesday elections, I clicked on Facebook and I found a posting by a favorite reader of this blog — Sue. Seems they had visited the cemetery and she had noticed several humorous engravings on the tombstones. It was an interesting read and was a great example of what Facebook could and should be.
Anyhow, that got me to thinking… I’ve visited lots of cemeteries around the world and I don’t remember almost anything that was engraved on the stones — except for a couple. One that I’ve seen a few times reads, “See, I told you I was sick.” I always thought that was funny. But one that I’ve always remembered, that I think is funny, thought-provoking, and and little bit sad, reads:
“Here lies an atheist. All dressed up with no place to go.”
Even though it’s funny, it’s sad… to think that this might be all there is.
I once read that there are very few “significant” last words spoken by someone who’s dying. I suppose that’s true. I remember hearing that Oscar Wilde’s last words were, “This wallpaper is dreadful, one of us will have to go.” Probably not significant , but memorable. But I like the way one of the Harry Potter books ended — “All was well.”
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