As much as many of us don’t want to think about it, there’s a good chance that we may end up writing someone’s obituary.
Although these have the practical purpose of letting loved ones know where the funeral will happen, they’re also intended to give everyone a little insight into who this person was.
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For those who have reason to believe that they’ll experience death soon, taking on this project themselves gives them an opportunity to show themselves on a more personal level and to let the world know exactly what they thought of life.
And one Canadian woman found a beautiful way to do that with hers.
At the age of 33, Bailey Matheson of Lakeside, Nova Scotia, was diagnosed with cancer.
As CBC News reported , the disease was incurable and naturally, she needed some time to come to terms with her prognosis.
However, as she outlined in her self-written obituary, it wasn’t long before she set out to enjoy the time she had left.
This led her to decide against undergoing chemotherapy, as she believed the process would diminish the quality of that time.
As she wrote, “My parents gave me the greatest gift of supporting my decisions with not going through chemo and just letting me live the rest of my life the way I believed it should be.”
Her obituary was also filled with words of thanks for the unconditional love and support of her friends and family.
As her close friend, Jen Irvine, told CBC News, “Bailey didn’t fear death. She feared more of an unlived life and leaving us behind.”
And based on what she wrote, it seems she was in no danger of letting her life go unlived.
She summed up her life with the statement, “35 years may not seem long, but damn it was good!”
And despite the unfortunate way it ended, she did her best to ensure that her life stayed good.
And so, she made a bucket list, which included an “epic” girl trip with 13 of her friends to Chicago.
As Irvine said, “All of us on that trip got a tattoo of a heart that Bailey drew, so that we could forever carry her heart with us.”
Matheson credits her friends for, as she put it, making “something that is so hard, more bearable and peaceful.”
But Irvine said that if anything, she comforted them as much as they did her with the frank way she talked about her diagnosis, death, and her goal to embrace life.
As she told CBC News, “She somehow made it OK and peaceful, and somehow made us see the collateral beauty in it.”
Matheson also dedicated a special part of her obituary to her boyfriend, Brett, whom she met only three months before she was diagnosed.
As she wrote, “You had no idea what you were getting yourself into when you swiped right that day. I couldn’t have asked for a better man to be by my side for all the adventures, appointments, laughs, cries and breakdowns.”
But ultimately, the final words in her obituary go out to anyone who ends up reading it.
To them, she said, “Don’t take the small stuff so seriously and live a little.”
Matheson passed away on April 5, 2019.
h/t: CBC News
