Good Riddance: Some Brutally Honest, If Not Scathing, Obituaries
After going through both articles, I realized evil people who can go to the extent of hurting their families indeed exist. Leslie Ray had not lived a good life and had been continuously engaging in abusive behaviors as he had pleaded guilty to two assaults, one involving him pouring hot liquid on his wife. Leslie’s daughter was also a victim of his abusive behavior, and she also wrote a brutal obituary about him in the family’s local funeral website. On the obituary, Leslie’s daughter wrote, “No services will be held, there will be no prayers for eternal peace and no apologizes to the family he tortured” (Hanson, par.6). Johnson-Reddick, on the other hand, was also abusive to her children during her lifetime, and they appeared to celebrate her departure from this world. Reddick’s daughter, Katherine, and her brother, Patrick, were victims of their mother’s brutality and they decided to shame her by stating how she tortured children and exposed them criminal activity, violence and vulgarity. Both of the deceased adults had lived a life that was full of cruelty and brutality, with their own families being the main victims (The Associated Press, par.6). I appreciate the courage of the deceased children in exposing the wrong deeds of their children and creating awareness that brutality or child abuse of any kind is not accepted in society and other oppressors might also be shamed on their obituaries should they continue with their cruel deeds.
I would write a brutal honest obituary on a member for a member of my family or someone close to act as a message to other people living a cruel life. After reading the obituaries from the articles, I can relate how the authors felt relieved knowing they were finally free of the oppressors. Moreover, writing a brutally honest obituary can be useful in creating awareness on child abuse and other related crimes. I would encourage other people to speak out against such criminal oppressors, especially through obituaries, since it could be effective in reducing such cases.
Works Cited
Hanson, Hilary. “’Relieved’ Family Writes Scathing Obituary For ‘Evil’ Father.” HuffPost, HuffPost, 11 Feb. 2017, www.huffpost.com/entry/obituary-evil-father_n_589f9865e4b03df370d6d8a6.
The Associated Press. Son who helped write vicious obit for Reno mom insists ‘everything in there was completely true.’ Daily News. 13 Sept, 2013, https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/son-wrote-vicious-obit-reno-mom-insists-completely-true-article-1.1454890