Ethical Wills

How will you be remembered when you die? Instead of just passing on your baseball cards and that complete set of Charles and Diana commemorative tea towels, you can now 'bequeath' your ideals and the lessons you have learned in this life.

Examples of ethical wills can be found in both the Old and New Testaments, but they are enjoying a resurge in popularity as evidenced by recent Washington Post and NPR reports. Unlike a living will or last will and testament, an ethical will is not a legal document. It is merely a text that is left to your relatives as a glimpse of who you were. This beautiful and thoughtful practice helps both the dying and the bereaved prepare, and leaves a treasured artifact for subsequent generations.

Naturally, some lawyers have figured a way to profit from all this...
Click here for software to aid you in writing your ethical will, or here if you prefer an old-fashioned book on the subject.

I imagine myself sitting around someday like Grandpa Simpson, jotting down my pearls of wisdom...

"Never pet a burning dog."

"No means No. Unless I said it, and then it means whatever she wants it to mean."

"Many things don't taste the way they smell." This is unfortunate in foods and beverages, but handy in the bedroom.

"Many things taste much better than they look." See above.

"Clothes never make a woman look fat. Ever."

"Don't settle for just one name." I have been known as Linus, Rene Michel, Yukio, Lochlainn, Centurion, Trooper Callahan, Kilty McFurious, Robin, Rob, Robbie-dobbie, Rotten Robin, Termike, Stumpbug, Big Jerk, Thor, and my current favorite, "Reverend."

"Ketchup is not a vegetable."

"Don't be too specific when calling out body parts during the 'Hokie-Pokie'"

and of course...
"Yo soy el pollo diablo."