Page 66 - THE ENDLESS WAVE | Skateboarding, Death & Spirituality

THE ENDLESS WAVE | PART ONE
he would wind up like person number one — dead. I have decided to keep that phone call as my primary memory of him.
Thankfully, I’ve heard only a few eulogies that are brutally authentic. They are similar to driving past a car crash. You tell yourself you don’t want to look, but you seem oddly compelled. I know that many people can understand the need to air dirty laundry in public. If there is someone in your life who was difficult, and you now have to say something at the funeral (and gathering), you are faced with quite a challenge.
It can feel cathartic to really let things go, and airing dirty laundry means that your exact feelings are well known. Perhaps too well-known! Conversely, you could keep things on a positive note but this might diminish your true feel- ings. Keeping skeletons in closets has its advantages, but sometimes they need to be evicted.
I suggest there are a few other choices you could make. For example, you could say nothing and politely decline any offer to speak. Your silence can speak volumes. You can get extremely creative and speak in metaphors and hints. This turns the eulogy into more of a mystery, and it runs the risk of confusing people. But then again, those in the know will know, and everyone else will just think you were being creative.
In the final analysis, the person is dead, and you are not. Beyond the funeral and the eulogy, I’d say when it comes to difficult people who have made your life hell, living well is the best revenge.
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