5 reasons to publish an obituary

An important element of human culture aimed at experiencing loss is a set of certain rituals. Among them are all the rituals that are associated with farewell. After all, if grief does not find its way outwardly, it can "burn" the grieving person from within. Personal grief is a deeply intimate feeling and therefore, as if as a counterbalance to it, a demonstrative publicity of rituals of farewell to the deceased has historically developed. The occasion for an obituary is, first of all, the very news of a person's death, even if it comes to us late, any length of time after the moment of death.

An obituary is a short notice announcing the death of a person. The notice recounts the major events that happened to the deceased during his or her lifetime. The text lists the person's personal and career successes, professional skills, and job performance.

Sometimes the obituary describes personal, human characteristics of the deceased. However, the obituary in its modern form is not intended to tell about the subjective characteristics of the person. The goal is to be as authentic as possible, but describing the person's personality is a good way to make the obituary heartwarming and heartwarming.

source: peoples.ru

1. An obituary is a way to show respect for the person who has passed away

In any case, an obituary is a necessary fact of showing, if not gratitude, at least respect for the deceased. The analysis of the obituaries published in recent decades shows that they are most often signed by people who are sincerely grieved by the death, but whose feelings are not as heavy as those of their closest ones. And here there is a danger that the obituary (which, as we have emphasized, always contains an element of formal, ritualistic action) may cause additional moral suffering to those who are grieving deeply by its emotional discrepancy with the severity of the tragedy.

However, firstly, the refusal of an obituary (at least in the shortest form, in the form of condolences to loved ones) will hurt those gripped by enormous grief even more. And second, the dangers of a "low-quality" obituary can easily be avoided by observing a few simple principles when writing it. These are politeness, restraint (a sense of proportion) and tact.

2. With an obituary you can preserve the memory of a person for a long time

An obituary helps to tell what the person was like when he was alive, what success he achieved, what was important to him. This is a kind of set of information about the person that is available to everyone. But it is most important for people close to them: they can read an obituary at any time and at least for a few minutes immerse themselves in memories of a loved one, to remember how he lived.

3. the obituary helps to find the person

Obituaries contain quite a bit of information about a person: date of birth and death, first name, last name, country and city where he lived, where he worked, what he did. The obituary also includes a picture of the person. Perhaps it is someone's relative or acquaintance that someone is looking for? An obituary can be used to help people identify the person. Some obituaries include the place of burial, so it becomes available to those who want to say goodbye to the deceased.

4. An obituary is a way to tell a lot of good things about a person

If the deceased had deeds in his life that cause public censure, it is not necessary to criticize him in the farewell speech. It is enough to limit yourself to pointing out the difficulties of life and difficult circumstances that influenced his fate. In the obituary it is better to talk about what positive qualities the person had, how he is remembered by his family and friends, who he helped, what good deeds he did, how he influenced people's lives. Warm words will be pleasant to all those connected with the deceased, and will serve as a consolation to those closest to them.

5. An obituary in a sense makes a person immortal

Information about the deceased will be kept as long as possible. If the obituary is well-written, it is enough just to read it so that a clear image of the deceased appears in front of you. That is why it is so important that the obituary contains not only formal information about the name and surname, date of birth and death, place of residence, place of burial, but also that it contains information about what was dear to the person. Obituaries often mention people close to the deceased person whom he loved, list activities that gave him pleasure, publish quotes that he often said. In short, everything that made the person a person is discussed.

We have listed the main reasons to publish an obituary. But the most important reason is your desire to tell a sincere story about the person's life.