一位父親的風趣告別

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如果一個人有與棺材家具朝夕相處的勇氣，有選擇在美酒和愛妻歌聲的陪伴下自我了斷的豁達，那不妨再進一步，寫好自己的訃告，為自己的身后事作個交代，給自己的人生畫上圓滿的句號。

Host： “Walter George Bruhl， Jr. of Newark and Dewey Beach， Del.， is a dead person； he is no more； he is 1）bereft of life； he is deceased； he has 2）wrung down the curtain and gone to 3）join the choir invisible.” That’s the way the 4）obituary for the 80-year-old Mr. Bruhl begins.

It’s a nod to “Monty Python，” and it’s exactly the way he would have wanted it because he wrote it. Mr. Bruhl left it behind， typed up with blanks to be filled in： the day he died， where he was， and the number of years he was married to his loving wife Helene—57.

Walter Bruhl’s grandson shared the full text of the very funny and moving obit on the website

5）Reddit， and it quickly went viral. The Bruhl family says they have been overwhelmed by the response. And we’ve reached Walter Bruhl’s son Martin in Newark， Del. Mr. Bruhl， welcome to the program， and I’m very sorry for your loss.

Martin： Thank you very much.

Host： Did you know that your father had written this obituary？

Martin： I did not. My mom had shown it to me shortly after his passing.

Host： Let’s read one section from it. He talks about the things he has left behind. He wrote this： “Walt was preceded in death by his 6）tonsils and 7）adenoids in 1935， a spinal disc in 1974， a large piece of his 8）thyroid gland in 1988.” Did that strike you very much as the dad you knew， and the sense of humor you knew？

Martin： It is definitely the sense of humor that we all knew. I’m sure right now he’s getting a big kick out of this whole thing. He’s laughing at all of us.

Host： He also did explain why there would be no viewing after his death， and I wonder if you could read that part of the obituary that your father wrote for himself.

Martin： Sure. “There will be no viewing since his wife refuses to honor his request to have him standing in the corner of the room with a glass of Jack Daniel’s in his hand so that he would appear natural to visitors.”

Host： What did you think about that？

Martin： That was him， without a doubt， 9）to a T. He loved life. He loved being around people. He just seemed to bring a smile everywhere he went.

Host： Now， I wonder in…in reading this obituary that your father wrote for himself， did it somehow lessen the blow of his dying to have read these words？

Martin： It did and also， how much it has affected a lot of people. At the end， he asked for people to do an 10）unsolicited act of kindness. And reading all the things online， how many people have done that， it really was something amazing.

Host： Well， Mr. Bruhl， it’s good of you to talk with us. Thank you so much.

Martin： Thank you.

Host： That’s Martin Bruhl， speaking about his father， Walter. People from all over the world are raising a glass to his memory after his self-penned obituary became an Internet sensation.

主持人：“小沃爾特·喬治·布魯爾，特拉華州的紐瓦克和杜威海灘人士。如今他是一個死人，不復存在，失去了生命，是一個已故的人，他已經放下人生的帷幕，去和天使作伴。”以上是80歲的布魯爾先生訃告的開篇。

這則訃告頗有蒙提·派森劇團的風格。布魯爾先生肯定會這么寫自己的訃告，因為這正是他自己寫的。布魯爾先生身后留下一份已經打印成文的訃告，其中只留下幾個空白處以待填寫：他去世的日期、地點，他與愛妻海琳婚姻的時長——57年。

沃爾特·布魯爾的孫子把這則無比風趣、感人至深的訃告全文放到了Reddit網站上，它迅速被廣為傳播。布魯爾家人表示，他們被網絡上的反應感動了。我們與沃爾特·布魯爾的兒子馬丁取得了聯系，他人在特拉華州紐瓦克。布魯爾先生，歡迎你參加我們的節目，我為你父親的去世感到難過。

馬丁：非常感謝。

主持人：你事先知道父親已經寫好了這則訃告嗎？

馬丁：我不知道。我父親過世后不久，母親給我看了這份東西。

主持人：我們來念其中的一段。他提到了身后留下的東西，他寫道：“此前，沃爾特的扁桃腺和增殖腺、椎間盤，還有一大塊甲狀腺分別在1935年、1974年和1988年早于他離世了。”這段話是不是讓你想起了你熟悉的父親，還有他的幽默感？……