Ever think about what you'd like to have said about you on your headstone for future generations to see?
I'm sure our President has finally begun reading the papers and, well, must be more than a little concerned about his legacy. You know, things kids will be reading about you in 100 years time in the classroom. In a way, an epitaph is handy because it allows you to have an eternal "last say" in at least one aspect of that legacy.
Let's have a look at some famous epitaphs.
We have Alexander The Great
A tomb now suffices him for whom the world was not enough
(If you go to the above wiki-epitaph link, compare that with Henry II.)
Shakespeare's epitaph:
GOOD FREND FOR JESUS SAKE FORBEARE TO
DIGG THE DUST ENCLOASED HEARE.
BLEST BE YE MAN YT SPARES THES STONES AND
CURST BE HE YT MOVES MY BONES
Dean Martin:
EVERYBODY LOVES SOMEBODY SOMETIME
Osho (Indian spiritual leader):
Never born, Never died: visited the planet earth between December 11, 1931 and, January 19, 1990.
Robert Frost:
I had a lover's quarrel with the world
Brandon Lee
Because we do not know when we will die, we get to think of life as an inexhaustible well. And yet everything happens only a certain number of times, and a very small number really. How many more times will you remember a certain afternoon of your childhood, an afternoon that is so deeply a part of your being that you cannot conceive of your life without it? Perhaps four, or five times more? Perhaps not even that. How many more times will you watch the full moon rise? Perhaps twenty. And yet it all seems limitless...
(the above quote is one of my favorites)
Leonard Matlovich
When I was in the military, they gave me a medal for killing two men and a discharge for loving one.
Now that's funny when you first read it. However, when you think about it for a while you realize several things. For one, he must have really loved that man to mention him on his tomestone. Thinking about it even longer, I figured he might have not only failed to understand why he'd been discharged for loving another man, but also why he should have been given a medal for killing two men in the first place. (but that's just my opinion)
I have two suggestions for a Bush epitaph. Note: I am in no way advocating his early death- I think he should have a long time to consider (and hopefully reconsider) all the havoc he's set in motion. Just think about all the damage a little kid could do behind the wheel of a car in about 30 seconds. Well, this man has been at the helm of something many times more powerful than a single car for nearly 8 years!
So without futher ado, let's get down to business, shall we?
Suggestion one:
When you lead by bad example, you might as well be working for the other side.
It's interesting to think about what "the other side" is and to try and define it on several levels. I'll leave you to do it on your own.
Suggestion two, following in the footsteps of his grandfather:
Prescott_Bush_Headstone.