92 / 102
- 90 -
One of Keaton’s unusual creations is our obituaries,
complete except for the final dates. Our obituaries
are not found to be amusing to our children, their
spouses, and our grandchildren. Keaton even wrote
a new one before Carl and I made a trip to Israel and
to Jordan two years ago. He was afraid that we might
not live to return from the trip and he wanted our
approval of this obituary. It was such a lovely obituary
for the two of us together, that I almost, but not quite,
was sorry he could not use it! In my opinion writing
of future obituaries does not have to do with Keaton
being obsessed with death now. When he was young,
he was fascinated over the details of someone’s death.
Today, his writing of obituaries is more about his
need for information and details to be on paper and
to be as accurate as possible. He even changed the
minister listed in his draft of my obituary when our
church received a new pastor last year. He told me
what he had done only after the fact.
His neighbor, Evelyn, is also the proud owner of her
obituary authored by Keaton. She has said that she
plans to keep it, because Keaton included all her
families’ names, even her parents and her five siblings.
She is an octogenarian, and feels that it is not likely
that her sons, grandchildren and great grandchildren
will remember all these people in the future.
We employed a voice instructor who lives nearby
to give Keaton training in speaking in more normal
voice tones. This is helpful whether he is talking one
to one, or speaking to a group at the Community
College, The University, or a group of special
education teachers. Keaton tends to use nasal tones