My Mother’s Epitaph

Written by Mashell Sarver-Barkman-Kinzey, Edited and Web-Published by Machaela Barkman

“After I am gone, I hope people will remember me as an extremely caring and loving person. I would like my friends to smile when they think of me.

Th most important part of my personality is my humor. I want everyone to remember me at my most “wound up.” I want to be remembered as smiling and happy.

As for my family, I hope they just plain remember me! (only kidding). I want my family to think of me as a strong, independent person. They helped teach me to stand on my own two feet.

My dear husband will (I hope) remember I was fun and not always a b*tch. As long as he remembers my silly chocolate highs, I know he’ll smile when he thinks of me.

Ah, those chocolate highs I would get at work and home (with a little help from a bottle of Mountain Dew) — that is what I want remembered most. It was then that I was the most entertaining person alive.

Oh, yes, I almost forgot, my singing. I want remembered for singing “All Shook Up” to my best bud Kim, and any song at all to my husband because I cannot carry a tune and he hated it.

Here lies Mashell, at least she was fun!”

This is a writing challenge my mom, Mashell, completed in February 1994. A lot has changed since then (three kids and two divorces, for starters), but she continues to be fun and sings with all her heart (way off key, of course)!

Now I challenge you to write your own epitaph. What do you want to be remembered for?