Sadly, actress Lynn Redgrave has died. In the obituary from the AP, a statement from her children reads, in part, "Our beloved mother Lynn Rachel passed away peacefully after a seven year journey with breast cancer." I hope that if I die from cancer or some other lengthy disease that the last days of my life will not be described as a "journey." I hope I will warrant the word "battle" or something along those lines. I want to go out fighting, not peacefully. Well -- maybe last-minute peace would be good, but I'll be striking back as long as I can.
Speaking of obituaries, I was really irritated when the Pasadena Star-News changed the obit I wrote for my dad, printing that he "passed away" instead of "died." What's wrong with "died"? Can the readers of the Star-News not handle a simple, honest word?
2 comments:
I totally agree with you. To me, journey implies something more positive and happy...like a backpacking trek across Europe. I would call my own mother's "journey" more of a fight, a struggle or her continued foot stomping rebellion. As far as passed away, it does seem, to me, like it's a polite way of covering up what really happened...someone died. Why would the Star News change the wording? Do they think it makes it any easier for the family to read? Weird.
I stopped in the middle of that sentence and thought "Journey? Really?!". You're absolutely right. A journey implies a planned and invited trip. I call bullshit! I call bullshit on "journey" AND the Star News. Lame!
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