The Body of B. Franklin Printer, Like the Cover of an Old Book, Its Contents Torn Out And Stripped of its Lettering and Gilding, Lies Here Food for Worms, - Benjamin Franklin

 Article first published as Nuggets of Wisdom: Afterlife on Technorati.

The Body of B. Franklin Printer,
Like the Cover of an Old Book,
Its Contents Torn Out
And Stripped of its Lettering and Gilding,
Lies Here Food for Worms,
But the Work shall not be Lost,
For it Will as He Believed
Appear Once More
In a New and more Elegant Edition
Revised and Corrected
By the Author
- Benjamin Franklin

This epitaph was written by Mr. Franklin at the ripe ol' age of 22, but was never used.  I agree with the sentiment he expressed concerning both life and death.  Aren't we all constantly writing our biographies?  Sometimes the plot is slow and plodding, sometimes it is full of beauty and wit, occasionally it might get a bit steamy.

But when we are no more, after the last 'The End' is penned, what happens to us?  It is the question that has spun a million religious quandaries.  I like Mr Franklin's belief, or perhaps my interpretation of his beliefs.
I prefer to see my life not as a single solitary story, but as a series whose total is measured in numerous volumes.  When the first book is over, it's cover worn and torn and the pages dog eared, a new one is written.  The first story is necessary for the second to make sense.  Lessons learned in one book are put to good use in the future adventures.  And when that story has reached it's denouement we start a new volume.

I don't think we are discarded and forgotten to a shelf to gather dust.  I like to believe that we are rebound much like Mr. Franklin suggests.  The original typos that plagued our stories are edited and the content is made to flow gently from chapter to chapter.  I look forward to the compilation of my stories.  All of the seemingly unconnected tragedies, fantasies, and romances rebound together and offered unabridged.  I don't know how many printings I'll get- none of us do.

My only hope is that someday someone will look at me and the lessons I've lived and learned over many stories and lives, and find something of value to their own story.  I hope I leave behind a life worth reading.

A special thanks to Mr. Ben Franklin.  He was a book binder and the father of America's first lending library.  He left a life worth reading and I hope is currently rebound and reissued.