Thursday, April 2, 2015

The Obituary This Woman Wrote For Herself Before Dying Of Cancer Is Sassy And Beautiful And Perfect

“So… I was born; I blinked; and it was over.”


Emily Debrayda Phillips lost her battle with pancreatic cancer last week at the age of 69. Days before Phillips passed away, she showed her family the obituary she planned to publish after she died.


Emily Debrayda Phillips lost her battle with pancreatic cancer last week at the age of 69. Days before Phillips passed away, she showed her family the obituary she planned to publish after she died.


The Phillips Family / The Florida Times-Union



It pains me to admit it, but apparently, I have passed away. Everyone told me it would happen one day but that's simply not something I wanted to hear, much less experience. Once again I didn't get things my way! That's been the story of my life all my life.


And while on that subject (the story of my life)… on February 9, 1946 my parents and older sister celebrated my birth and I was introduced to all as Emily DeBrayda Fisher, the daughter of Clyde and Mary Fisher from Hazelwood. I can't believe that happened in the first half of the last century but there are records on file in the Court House which can corroborate this claim. Just two years later when another baby girl was born, I became known as the middle sister of the infamous three Fisher Girls, and the world was changed forever.




The Phillips Family / The Florida Times-Union



I remember cutting small rosebuds still wet with dew to wear to school on spring mornings, and I remember the smell of newly mowed grass. I remember the thrill of leading our high school band down King Street in New Orleans for Mardi Gras (I was head majorette). I remember representing Waynesville in the Miss North Carolina Pageant, and yes, I twirled my baton to the tune of "Dixie." It could have been no other way.


I married the man of my dreams (tall, dark, and handsome) on December 16, 1967 and from that day on I was proud to be Mrs. Charlie Phillips, Grand Diva Of All Things Domestic. Our plan was to have two children, a girl and a boy. Inexplicably we were successful in doing exactly that when we were blessed with our daughter Bonnie and then later our son Scott. Seeing these two grow into who they were supposed to be brought a wonderful sense of meaning to our lives.





View Entire List ›


No comments:

Post a Comment