Obituaries are often like first dates: Light and fluffy without any of the baggage that inevitably accompanies life.
Sometimes, though, an obituary will tell it like it is (or was).
Take this notice that appeared in the Tampa Tribune on May 27.
RUSH, Michael J. (AKA Dirty Mike), Born Oct. 10, 1953, in Dayton Ohio. Transplanted to Nashville in 1958. Took root in Tampa in 1986. Died May 18, 2015. Sorry for any harm I have ever caused or done. If I owe you money, sue me.
Short and sweet, at least in a figurative sense.
Also shown is an American flag, denoting that “Dirty Mike” was a veteran.
What’s nice about this obit is, beyond its brevity, is the lack of platitudes, false praise or bromides about peace, love and understanding.
It would seem likely that ol’ Dirty Mike wrote his own obituary, and one gets the impression he penned the piece as he lived life – on his own terms.
Dirty Mike likely would have been the first to tell you he was no saint, but he also would have had no trouble owning up to that fact.
That I can respect.
The Cotton Boll Conspiracy 
Nice, honest…and good humoured.
Given the last sentence I wonder if he was of Scots descent…….?
Hey–I’d take a wee bit a’ caution there, Helen…
Perhaps, but I’d have thought he’d thrown in a line about “stupid English pigs” if that were the case.
It makes you wish you had known him, doesn’t it? Thank you for sharing this.
Thanks, OB. He does sound like he would have been a good man to know. Perhaps a handful at times, but who among us hasn’t been?
There is absolutely no truth at all to the stereotype about temper and we redheaded women!
😉
Rest in peace, Mike.
Or, er, however you wish to rest.
Amen.
It’s my understanding the British don’t hesitate to remove the sugarcoating in describing the dear departed..
Here’s an example of the British style which makes for a bit more interesting reading, doesn’t it?:
Gavin Hodge, who has died aged 65, was one of the first celebrity hairdressers, and became known as much for his sexual conquests as for his skills with the scissors; his era was the 1960s and 1970s, when the crimper emerged from the shadows of the salon to become a sought-after man about town.
We had quite the little flurry of excitement in Richmond a few years ago when an obituary was published with abundant warts and humor. People loved it. I cut it out….wonder where that might be now….
Yes, British newspapers are definitely of a different breed than those in the US. Whether that’s good or bad, I don’t know.