words to remember us by.

So, it's not been the best week, right? David Bowie died, Alan Rickman died, and I definitely didn't win Powerball. (Or maybe I DID and am just going the super-sneaky anonymous route. Hang on, my new butler is trying to hand-feed me Cheez-its...okay, I'm back.) Plus, J.J. is out of town, I've had to shovel three times in as many days, my state's governor is all, "Poisoned children, meh! NBD!", and I somehow slammed the car door on my leg. Coping mechanisms of mine have included over-utilizing Grandma's Best Baby-Sitting Service, consuming mass quantities of MSG, and scrolling through Facebook pretty much constantly.

Which means that I've seen all the inspirational-quote photos of Bowie and Rickman that everyone's been sharing on Facebook. You know the ones I'm talking about - as soon as we hear that someone we admire died, we Google-race to find the most touching or obscure quote from the dearly departed, and then share it to prove our level of fandom. (Guilty as charged.) I've included some here in case you need a reminder (and no, I don't have sources for any of these, as they were lifted straight from friends' Facebook posts. Sorry):

(This one legit breaks my heart.)

And the quote-photos are nice, right? They remind us why we loved and admired these people - their wisdom, their wit, their creative genius - and how connected we were to them, even as strangers. It's healing, in a weird way, to publicize your grief with visible, heartlifting sentiment.

So naturally, being self-centered, I started to think about me. Like...wtf will people use when *I* die? I'm no celebrity, but aren't you all going to want to match my visage with my deep thoughts for online tributes after my tragic plane crash?! For your convenience, I plumbed the volumes of sagacity published here, in my very own Blog of Deep Thought Oversharing, and whipped up a few inspirational-quote photos for you to consider. (For the record, I'm banking on us reaching Singularity before I die, in which instance these photos will be rendered superfluous.)

(read the full inspirational quote source here)

(read the full inspirational quote source here)

(read the full inspirational quote source here)

Y'all are welcome.

And - here's a bonus inspirational pic. Because part of the reason I felt like I'd been sucker-punched when I read about both David Bowie and Alan Rickman is that they were born within months of my own mother, and they both died within months of her, also of cancer, also way before their times. It was harder than I anticipated to come up with an inspirational quote / photo combo for her - for two reasons. One, finding a photo where she wasn't squeezing a grandchild was nearly impossible, and two, her wisdom was always, always laced with humor. Usually inappropriate humor. Okay, raunchy humor. She stood and told a joke at my wedding shower (held at her country club, mind you) that was so naughty, I truly can't repeat it here. Her humor was legendary, and it just wasn't her style to share advice without making it funny.

So rather than plastering a flowery line next to my mom's beautiful face, I'll instead bestow her picture with the philosophy she lived by for the decades that she spent raising five children. It's the phrase each of us, along with all our friends who spent any amount of time at our house, heard nightly - and a phrase that each of us has come to appreciate as adults, and especially as parents. Because, for Christ's sake, there has to be a point in every mom's evening when you can just shut off and have some space to yourself. My mom deserved that as much as anyone. Plus, I think she'd completely crack up if she saw THIS as her post-mortem inspirational Internet picture. And, finally, the phrase makes me laugh every time I see it, which was my mom's literal final wish - that she be remembered with a smile. Mission accomplished, Mom.

H/T to Stevo for reminding me of this perfect quote. Happy weekend, friends.

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