A creative writing exercise involving looking death in its freaky face.
Here is how mine went, several years ago.
“The Silencing of a Legend”
Though she never did anything quietly while she was alive, Elena Margo passed away quietly in her sleep last Tuesday at the age of 88. “Obviously she didn’t have any last words for us,” commented her son Garth on Wednesday, “but she left quite a long note.” Garth declined to read the last message, stating, “Whatever she wanted to bug us about, she had her chance!”
Best remembered for her annoying habit of talking back to the TV, Ms. Margo was also known for her backseat driving. “We used to have to blindfold her to take her in the car,” her oldest daughter Rose explained. “Mother was always yelling about some squirrel she saw poised to run a suicide mission under the tires.”
No one could deny that she was always generous with her opinion. Her youngest daughter Olivia remembers: “I think our best Christmas was the one when Mother got laryngitis and couldn’t gripe about everything.”
After writing several novels that never sold, Ms. Margo turned to self-publishing and began to produce her wildly popular zine. “Her Zine was the best thing that ever happened,” her sister, Emily, said. “That way she could write everything down and mail it instead of calling us at all hours.”
Ms. Margo will be greatly missed for her unwavering committment to helping others. Grandson Mathers recounts: “I only ever had to start a chore — before long Gramma’d be right there in the action, telling me to get out of the way before I screwed it all up.” He smiled fondly at the thought. “I got more chores done that way!”
Her memorial will be Saturday at 11 a.m. As requested in her will, participants are asked to bring chocolate instead of flowers. “I can’t enjoy the flowers either, so you may as well bring something I like.”
