PHIL WIELAND: Don't wait for your obit to tell your life's story

It seems like there are a lot of funerals for local soldiers lately. Our involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan seems pretty limited, and yet the military escorts arrive in Northwest Indiana with alarming frequency.

We can't compare them, but the death of Sgt. Ronald Evans Taylor, of Wheatfield, has more than a touch of tragic irony. Taylor survived two tours in Iraq and was due to get out of the Army in a couple of weeks when he was murdered in Kansas. As far as I know, we are not at war with Kansas unless large oil deposits were found there lately.

At the close of services for Taylor at the Boersma Funeral Home on Saturday, Andrew Boersma urged everyone who knew Taylor to take time that night to write down their memories of him and give them to his widow, Amanda, so the couple's 5-year-old son, Riley, could learn about his father someday.

I don't know if Boersma does that at every service, or only when a small child is left behind, or if this was the first time he'd ever offered the suggestion. Whatever the case, it's the kind of advice that should apply to everyone. It's especially good advice for parents.

The popularity of "Roots" notwithstanding, not everyone gets into family history, and not everyone's family history lives up to the alleged glamor and phony excitement of "Keeping Up with the Kardashians." But everyone should take time to write a little autobiography of their origins to pass on to their progeny.

After "Roots" appeared on TV, I began bugging my parents and my two grandmothers to write their bios for me. My parents' stories of growing up and how they met are precious to me. I'm only sorry my dad didn't finish his before he died. My mom still passes along occasional glimpses of her past that I continue to collect.

My grandmothers (both my grandfathers were dead by the time I started this quest) would talk about it but were reluctant to write anything down. One would respond to questions about certain facets of her life in letters, but most of their stories are lost. I'm trying not to make that same mistake, although I have been a little lax lately in keeping up with my life story.

I don't know that my son or his children or any of the generations yet to come will care, but, if they do, I want that information to be there for them. It doesn't have to be long, and, in today's convenient techno world, it's also easy to add a little video touch so they will know what you looked and sounded like.

Funerals often are one of the few times families get together. Don't let it be the only time your family gets to learn about you.

The opinions are those of the writer. He can be reached at phil.wieland@nwi.com or (219) 548-4352.