Seattle woman's self-written obit goes viral
SEATTLE -- A 60-year old Seattle woman dying of endometrial cancer had time to write her own obituary. The Seattle Times reported that Jane Lotter created one that was both moving and uplifting, and it's gone viral on the web.
During her life, Lotter was a professional freelance writer, editor, and proofreader. In addition to being able to write her own obit, she said "The other advantages are no longer bothering with sunscreen and no longer worrying about your cholesterol."
She thanked her first grade teacher for teaching her how to read. She wrote about the night she met her husband in a Pioneer Square tavern, calling it "The luckiest night of my life." She told her daughters to "always remember that obstacles in the path are not obstacles, they ARE the path."
In the brief column space of her obituary, she tried to sum up what she'd learned in her 60 years of life.
Lotter said "I believe we are each of us connected to every person and everything on this Earth, that we are in fact one divine organism having an infinite spiritual existence. Of course, we may not always comprehend that. I was given the gift of life, and now I have to give it back. This is hard. But I was a lucky woman, who led a lucky existence, and for this I am grateful. I first got sick in January 2010. When the cancer recurred last year and was terminal, I decided to be joyful about having had a full life, rather than sad about having to die. Amazingly, this outlook worked for me. (Well, you know, most of the time.) Meditation and the study of Buddhist philosophy also helped me accept what I could not change. At any rate, I am at peace. And on that upbeat note, I take my mortal leave of this rollicking, revolving world -- this sun, that moon, that walk around Green Lake, that stroll through the Pike Place Market, the memory of a child's hand in mine."
You can read Lotter's obit here http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/seattletimes/obituary.aspx?n=jane-catherine-lotter&pid=166098479#fbLoggedOut