One of the things that I have noticed as I have gotten older, especially now that I am dealing with cancer, is that I always look at the obituaries in the newspaper for someone deceased I might have known and their age. Although fortunately, there have been few names of people I knew, I have noticed that a lot of men dying are younger than me.
That got me thinking about my own impending demise, especially what people will remember about me afterward and say at my wake. No, I don’t want to have a funeral as that is a religious affair, and I am a non-believer. I am not an atheist. I just don’t believe in the biblical benevolent or caring God. I just figured a get-together of friends with a lot of drinking and storytelling about me, real or fanciful, would be an excellent way to go.
So, what would they say about me, and most importantly, what would I like them to say? So, I thought I would help them with that, and here it is.
—————————————————————————————————————
ELLIOT ACTOR 1939 – 202X
In 2017, Elliot wrote an essay after camping in his trailer in the desert near Tucson, where he said he had found bliss. So, what did he mean by that? What was bliss to Elliot? Was it happiness, contentment, satisfaction, or just peace of mind? Elliot thought it was a combination of all of those.
As he reflected on his life, he realized how amazingly wonderful it had been. How lucky he was to somehow have finished high school without being thrown into jail for all the stupid things he did. And then, following that, to be able to survive over five years in the Marine Corps with several harrowing missions as a sniper in North Vietnam and somehow manage to come through it all without any lasting mental or physical issues. In fact, he believed enlisting in the Marine Corps was probably the best thing he could have done at that time, as it helped him where he needed help the most: to get out from under the shadow of his older brother and to grow up and mature.
Then, afterward, he realized how fortunate he was to have been able to put himself through college without any assistance from his family. And especially during that time, he meet the beautiful woman, Barbara, with whom he fell in love and married. A wonderful marriage of XX (63 Now) years with two terrific and loving children, Cheryl and Charles, who have blessed them with five marvelous grandchildren: Miranda, Parker, Gabriella, Mathew, and Jason.
Elliot remembered well the challenges they went through for six years as he worked full-time at various companies while struggling to finish college and raise a family. He also realized how fortunate he had been to land a job with IBM well before graduating.
During his 28 years at IBM, he embarked on a remarkable career, ascending from engineering to senior marketing management positions in the USA and Asia. He also knew how even luckier he was to have had the opportunity to spend the last four years of his career with IBM before retiring, creating and managing a higher education philanthropy program. There, he gave away large sums of IBM’s money and equipment to over one hundred colleges and universities like Santa Claus.
Since retiring from IBM in 1992, Elliot believed his life had continued to be remarkable. He had worked at various fulfilling and, most times, enjoyable jobs, as a marketing consultant, as an expert on tools and fasteners in a small neighborhood hardware store, as a skilled handyman, as a realtor, and lastly, now as a writer. He and Barbara had also traveled extensively throughout the United States and internationally, and he was almost through his bucket list.
Sure, there were also some earlier health issues before the Multiple Myeloma cancer, including having quadruple bypass surgery back in 2001 and fixing a broken ankle, torn Rotator Cuff, and a torn Achilles Tendon.
Elliot is also quite pleased that at seventy-five, he embarked upon a totally unanticipated new career as a writer. Not only has that kept him busy, but he has also met many special new friends and has successfully published seven novels on Amazon. The first book dealt with his memoirs while in the Marine Corps, and the last with his life after the Marine Corps..
Following his first novel, Elliot published five additional novels on Amazon, including an action-adventure trilogy, The Forgotten Bomb, Tsarina, and Despot, then The Exiles, a human survival story in a catastrophe, and lastly, a science fiction story, Predestined.
Elliot has also published several short novels, including Yum-Yum, a Stephen King-like horror tale, and his latest, Echoes of the Heart, a romance novel.
Of even more importance, looking back, he realizes how extremely fortunate he has been to have such wonderful friends and how genuinely empty his life would have been without all of them.
So, what was left for him? Truthfully, not much. Elliot had earlier thought about buying a house on the water somewhere and maybe buying another Porsche; however, why? He had been there and had already done that. In fact, he had done almost everything he had ever wanted to do or ever dreamt of doing.
Elliot also reflected back with satisfaction on the myriad of extra-curricular activities he had been able to do during his life, and as he likes to say, “I’ve been there and done that.” There were years of scuba diving, sailing, tennis, cross-country skiing, downhill skiing, hiking, sports cars, motorcycles, kayaking, travel trailers, and finally RVs.
And that is when Elliot realized that he had indeed found bliss. If he had reached the end of his life right then, right now, it would be okay, for he was happy and content. He had had an enjoyable and fulfilling life, and if it was over, he had no regrets; it would be all right!.
