The unmarried and childless are often enough forgotten on genealogy charts and in family histories, despite the fact that it is also often those persons who were available to other family members when needed for child care, parental care, and financial help too. The Never Married No Kids person, without the obligation towards a spouse or offspring, is sometimes the person who is gets an education or moves away and has time to develop a career when others in the family have joined the status quo of married with children and the work-a-day world.
I make every effort to include NMNK people in my charts and stories. Perhaps the brother of grandma is not one's genetic line but perhaps he was the one who cared for her when their parents died. Great Aunt may have been called a spinster in her time and maybe she was lesbian or had been raped as a girl and had no interest in men. Or maybe cousin Honor was mentally slow but she was very much part of the family. Whatever the case, it was Great Aunt who hosted the Thanksgiving Family Reunions and always had some advice for a niece or nephew. We really do need to celebrate their lives too.
I recently came across an obituary in a sea of Covid-related obituaries of a young man and rejoiced in the wording of this tome. It is so far distanced from the usual obituary that is either matter of fact or dripping in religious sentimentality and wording.
I'm changing the names and some of the details here but goes:
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SMITH, David John
David John Smith, 54, actor, traveler, educator, of Los Angeles, passed away Monday, January 3rd, 2022. He was graduate of Valley College and UCLA. He went on to earn an MFA in Theatre at the University if Michigan and later in life earned a Masters in Education. Acting was his love from a very early age. He performed on stage from the time he was in kindergarten and moved into film in adulthood. David began teaching in Los Angeles and took great joy in teaching children and taking part in shaping their lives for the future. David loved his fur babies and will be reunited with his puggies, Pretty, Spot, and Rover and many other furry friends he had through the years. David leaves behind his parents, John and Mary Smith, his sister, Nancy Jones, and his nephew Jack all of Detroit, Michigan, his dear friends Matty Johnson, Annie Mayer, Larry Larson, and Derik Shapiro, his kitty, Samson, and many close friends all over the world. A memorial service will be held at a later date.
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The original obit included a nice photo of the man who had recently passed away.
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