Why are they published, and who reads them? Is it when a person reaches a certain age and wants a sense of security that death and age are relative issues — that there is not a necessary connection between the two? Was mortality ever questioned?
When we come across an octogenarian’s obituary, we may merely marvel at such longevity and perhaps with some admiration declare, “At least he lived a long life”; but when we view a young person’s description on the next page, we wonder with sadness at the suddenness of it all. Was it necessary or inevitable? How must the parents feel —for that is the horror of every parent, is it not, to bury one’s child before one’s self?
Obituaries provide some level of comfort — of a final testament and declaration to the world that seemingly never cared; on a practical level, to provide whatever social or legal notice to surviving beneficiaries; and as a reminder to us all that life should be celebrated and not mourned — at least for those still living.
For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from ill health and where health becomes a daily reminder that there are some things in life which are not worth sacrificing, reading the obituaries should jar one into realizing that being a sacrificial lamb at the altar of a Federal Agency or the Postal Service is never a worthwhile goal. If your health is deteriorating and you have a medical condition which prevents you from performing all of the essential elements of your Federal or Postal job, it may be time to consult with an experienced attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement benefits.
In the end, you do not want to read your own obituary and shake your head saying, “Too young, too foolish, too late.”
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire
OPM Disability Retirement, Et Cetera… 