Cemeteries somehow attract me. There is only one reason for this. On a small surface there are numerous fascinating human stories. No-one tells them, they are the gravestones with names, dates and sometimes photos, which drive my fantasy at full throttle. Wherever I am on this earth, I visit a cemetery in order to feel the cultural differences and think up stories that are unknown to me. Recently my youngest has accompanied me more and more frequently and together we think about people we haven’t known, but who seem so exciting that it seems worthwhile occupying oneself with them.

The same also works with death announcements. To be honest, I read them very seldom and ever less often. That has something to do with how one reads. Previously it was a newspaper that one simply leafs through and here and there gets stuck. In the meantime I read the daily press 95% electronically and therefore the selection of the content is  merciless.

Recently, when leafing through the NZZ, which has become seldom, my attention was caught by a death announcement.  The death announcement was so unusual that I couldn’t put the paper down. Three members of one family – according to their dates of birth perhaps parents and son- all died in the same month on different dates. Three places were also named, as if they had lived scattered all over the earth.

Perhaps a terrible tragedy that one would not wish any family. Probably I will never find out, but I thought about them for a very long time. May they rest in peace.   My condolences to their relatives.