When Emily Phillips was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in February, she knew she didn’t have long to live.
So she decided to give the world a farewell in her own words.
The Florida grandmother’s
self-penned obituary
has taken the Internet by storm since she passed away last week, and
has received more than 5,100 “likes” on Facebook since it was shared by
The Florida Times-Union on Tuesday.
“It pains me to admit it, but apparently, I have passed away,”
Phillips, 69, writes in the obituary’s opening. “Everyone told me it
would happen one day, but that’s simply not something I wanted to hear,
much less experience.”
From there, Phillips, a longtime public school teacher who lived in
Orange Park, takes the reader on a journey through her life. Her
recollections of walking to Hazelwood Elementary School in Hazelwood,
N.C. Her father calling square dances. Performing skits for the 4-H Club
in fifth grade. Being a beauty pageant competitor. Leading the high
school band down King Street in New Orleans for Mardi Gras when she was
head majorette.
The obituary’s tone shifts between humorous and sentimental, and
Phillips pauses to reflect on the little moments of her journey and
takes a stab at some of life’s more existential questions.
“So many things in my life seemed of little significance at the time
they happened, but then took on a greater importance as I got older,”
Phillips says. “The memories I’m taking with me now are so precious and
have more value than all the gold and silver in my jewelry box.”
Phillips began writing the obituary soon after she was diagnosed with
the terminal illness in February, her daughter, Bonnie Upright, told
FoxNews.com on Friday. At first, Upright says, the family was resistant,
but listened when her mother insisted they hear her read it.
“We laughed where we were supposed to laugh, cried where we were
supposed to cry, and looking back at it now … it really was one of the
most special moments in my entire life,” Upright said, adding that the
warm response to the obituary has soothed the family’s heartbreak.
“Being able to smile through the tears on my face has been an
incredible experience, and an incredible gift that mom left us,” she
said.
Phillips is survived by her husband, Charles; her daughter Bonnie and
her son, Scott; and five grandchildren: Sydney, 18; Jake, 15; Emma, 9;
William, 9; and Charlie, 4.
“So ... I was born; I blinked; and it was over. No buildings named
after me; no monuments erected in my honor. But I DID have the chance to
know and love each and every friend as well as all my family members.
How much more blessed can a person be?” Phillips writes. “So in the end,
remember ... do your best, follow your arrow, and make something
amazing out of your life. Oh, and never stop smiling.”