What do you want on your tombstone?
Although it was a question asked from a series of kitschy frozen pizza brand television ads from the 90’s, I couldn’t stop thinking about the question after a breakout session with other creators and writers earlier today.
That sounds weird, so please bear with me.
The topic of the breakout session: Our online biography; our bio. What does it say? What do we really want it to say? What is our epitaph if you will?
Years ago, I gave my father a journal, hoping against hope he would share some of his thoughts, aspirations, hopes, dreams, memories and wisdom.
My father, born in WWII Paris to a wounded American GI and French nurse, grew up in Europe. He toured around on motorcycles during his summers a young lad. He came to the states to attend Georgia Tech, went on a blind date, met my mother and the rest is history. He served in the Army during Vietnam and went on to work in the FBI for the rest of his career. He lived in New York City, New Orleans and Puerto Rico in the 1970’s which must have been wild before settling in south Alabama where I grew up. He enjoyed being good at fishing and bad at golf.
Organizing his closet after he passed in January, I found the notebook. Although it was in mint condition, I opened it anyway to see if there was anything at all other than the note I’d written in the front jacket cover.
Blank.
It’s funny, but the indefatigable thought of those blank pages today has led me to an insight I have long sought.
It took 71 days to find my “why”.
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