The most honest obituary

The following is a portion of an obituary for a man of some distinction.?ÿ I can't say that I knew him but know one of his step-sisters and his father.?ÿ His father is also a man of distinction for whom a large party will be thrown when he hits the end of his own journey.?ÿ His father's entire family is a half beat out of step with most of the world's population so this obituary is sedate compared to some that have or will appear for his father's side.

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Randall Edward Kennedy, Son, Brother, Father, Papa and Friend, age 47, lit his last Pall Mall on Saturday, August 14, 2021 before heading to his forever home where his Grandpa Harlan is likely waiting with a shot of whiskey and a cold beer.

He was born July 24, 1974 to Marvin Kennedy and Judy (Chaney) Hoffman kicking and screaming and continuously tested their love and patience for all the years of his youth (and then some.) On August 15, 2008, he married Amy Zirjacks, who brought equal parts joy and grief to his life. She miraculously survives in Afton, Oklahoma but only by the grace of God because we all know sheƒ??s a mouthy one!

Randall was a jack of all trades and a master of none. This man could keep a vehicle running down the road with bread ties, pipe glue and some type of MacGuyver-esque witchcraft. But his special talents would be his amazing carpentry and his ability to piss off Amy.

Randall loved his friends, he loved his family but most of all he loved his boys and grandbabies. Because adulting is hard and life is short he did not get to spend as much time with his boys or his grandchildren as he wanted. But man, were they loved!

He leaves behind four devastated sons and three daughters in law:

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While on the subject of recently deceased people I know, you should pray I never mention your name to another person.?ÿ Less than two weeks ago I bumped into an old buddy of mine who graduated high school in 1958.?ÿ Our initial conversation centered around a neighbor of his whose kids were in school with my kids.?ÿ He had died a couple days earlier from a kidney issue.?ÿ Phil was a graduate of a different high school in 1959, so he and my buddy had played against each other all those years ago, before becoming neighbors.?ÿ This moved into a discussion of the high school my sister attended, which played sports against those other two high schools, back when they were still operating.?ÿ This turned into my buddy reminiscing about the names of students at my sister's high school, including the mention of one girl (Janis) who was "absolutely beautiful".

Our conversation switched to some genealogy of his family and how my mother had been very close friends with a pair of his mother's cousins many years ago.?ÿ I told him that I had talked on this subject with his brother, Stan, a few years ago while delivering a survey.?ÿ He told me Stan was in the hospital with some ailment involving the intestinal tract and was not doing very well.

Seven days after our conversation, Janis died of brain cancer.?ÿ Three days later, Stan died.