Autobiography: Funeral Home Essay

Submitted By robertlawler
Words: 1013
Pages: 5
Open Document
Autobiographical Sketch

Robert Lawler

On any given night, you will most likely find me in a deep sleep nestled in my bed. I’ve always been one to make sure to get enough sleep, even when I was a young child. However, on any given night you could also potentially find my father waking me up to work. “Bobby, we have another one. Don’t worry, the house isn’t that far away.” At first, I am hesitant to leave the warm confines of my bed. With a little forceful persuasion, I get up and dress in my nicest attire. You may be wondering where I am off to at this time at night. At this point, I go outside, start the car, make sure the stretcher is in the trunk, and off we go to pick up one who has passed away in their home. My name is Robert Lawler and my father, also Robert Lawler, owns one of the most respected funeral homes in Boston; Lawler & Crosby Funeral Home. Growing up, much of my life was revolved spending time down at the parlor, playing with my sisters upstairs while funeral services were being held downstairs. At this time, both my parents were working full time and my three sisters and I needed to spend much time down at the funeral home. I have many memories of the upstairs section of the home. Countless games of hide and seek were played, as well as curious adventures to the attic to look through old relics that dated back to the 40s when my grandfather started the business. The fear of some mysterious creature hiding up there usually kept us hesitant from climbing those steep wooden stairs. Some may find a funeral home an unorthodox place for a child to spend most of their time, but I love and cherish the memories spent there.

Besides spending time at the funeral home, I got introduced to music at a very young age. My mother was a religious jazz listener, and my father had a passion for the Rolling Stones. At the age of 9, I came across an old beaten up saxophone my neighbors gave to me before moving across the country. Growing up in my neighborhood, my parents were very cautious about letting me outside alone, due to the fear of something potentially happening. Because of this, I spent much time in my room practicing my saxophone. It became an obsession. For hours on end you would find me standing in the middle of my room playing song after song, drill after drill to the point where my family would have to ask me to stop in return for peace and quiet. By the time I was in fourth grade, I was missing some of my classes in order to practice with the school band. I had found what I thought was my passion, and had potential to be extraordinary. Unfortunately at this time, I was pretty overweight and had a hard time socializing. I would observe my classmates and friends and see that they did not enjoy music as much as I did. In my adolescent mind, I had the distorted reasoning that playing an instrument wasn’t “cool,” and that I was not going to make friends if I kept at what I was doing. At this point, I made the decision to back away from music and focus on sports and losing my weight. Although I was able to succeed in sports and quickly started to make friends, I still had the desire to play the saxophone. To this day I still play the sax here and there, but I still regret the decision I made so many years ago. As I grew older, I was being involved with my father’s work more and more. At around age
Show More

Related Documents: Autobiography: Funeral Home Essay

Bruce Allen Bechdel's Tragicomic Fun Home

Webster’s Dictionary online is defined as a man in relation to his natural child or children and yet, that definition is debatable because having a father that isn't involved with their children is common in homes. In the tragicomic Fun Home, written and illustrated by Allison Bechdel is an autobiography about her father Bruce Allen Bechdel and the series of events her family faced because of him. Flashback and memory reference are a key factor, she uses to show the readers how these times affected her…

Words 714 - Pages 3

Marion Coutts Autobiography Analysis

Mother and widow Marion Coutts’ autobiography, “There is going to be a destruction… the obliteration of a person”, writes about a specific time of when her husband was diagnosed with a tumor. Coutts purpose of writing this devastating tragedy in her life, is to recount the life of her husband for the audience to make a connection with someone in their lives with cancer. She wanted to let the audience know that during hard times, they should rely on the emotional support of friends and families. Coutts…

Words 589 - Pages 3

heros essay

In the Autobiography, Stone described a hero and what it is not. “Heroes are every day, common people, most of what they do goes unheralded, unappreciated and that ironically is heroism not to be recognized.”(Stone) What do you consider a hero? Someone who is made-up and fights bad guys for revenge and only comes out on television? Or someone who would rather stay home and take care of their grandma because she’s sick than to go to the party of the year? Being a hero can bring many sacrifices…

Words 914 - Pages 4

Fredrick Douglass Argumentative Essay

Fredrick Douglass presents, in his autobiography, a stellar piece of literature in slavery, its impact on the people and the struggle towards its eradication. Douglass wrote the literature about seven years after his escape from slavery. This autobiography is by far the best work in the description of the murk that was slavery. At various points in his book, Douglass highlights the brutality that accompanied slavery while discussing the attempts by the enslaved population at reclamation of their…

Words 1130 - Pages 5

Mlk vs Malcolm X Essay

Martin vs. Malcolm Ambitious, Strong, Intelligent, Evolving; are all great terms to describe the two most famous men in the Civil Rights –“Black Power” movement. Martin and Malcolm, both are very different people yet so similar; fighting for the same aspirations but on two completely different battlegrounds. They both had the same goal of extinguishing racism. Yet both had their own philosophies and beliefs they followed and they both gave inspiring and moving speeches, but portrayed in two different…

Words 2914 - Pages 12

POPULAR RELIGION IN CHANGING JAPAN Notes Past Midterm Essay

reincarnated, feces of worms, just gone, in dirt, hell Our view impacts how we interact with the dead Does dead matter to us? Yes, memories. Japanese thought Christians are immoral because they didn’t venerate the dead. What do I want to happen at my funeral? I don’t want people to mourn as much as I want people to celebrate my life Good food, music I want my family and friends How do my life goals fit with that? Dentist – good deeds – good deeds should be celebrated Help people Vast majority of American…

Words 2833 - Pages 12

Chris Kyle Essay

Chris Kyle was born, in the great state of texas the first son of Debby Lynn Kyle, and Wayne Kenneth Kyle. Chris had one sibling and his name is Jeff Kyle. when Chris was eight years old his dad bought him his first rifle for hunting. As Chris got older he got into sports such as baseball, football, and his favorite bull riding. In high school he started competing in big time bull riding competitions. Chris graduated from Midlothian High School. After graduating he became a professional bull rider…

Words 677 - Pages 3

Storytelling In The Things They Carried

that had occurred in their life. In Annie John by Jamaica Kincaid and in The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, storytelling is definitely defined as a control feature. In Annie John, there are scenes where characters tell stories.. Annie’s autobiography the moments when she recognizes how what she tells has an impact in how others see her and that she can manipulate the truth for effect and so does her mother. Annie also imagines her “story” moving to Belgium, and recognizes her own “self” and…

Words 1093 - Pages 5

Essay On Death Of A Salesman

Willy killing himself, intentionally crashing his car so that Biff can use the life insurance money to start his business. However, at the funeral Biff sticks to his belief that he does not want to become a businessman. But Happy (Willy’s other son), on the other hand, chooses to follow in his father's footsteps. Most of the play’s action takes place in Willy’s home. When Willy and Linda purchased it, it represented the ultimate expression of Willy’s hopes for the future. Now, the house is hemmed in…

Words 951 - Pages 4

Man In The Red Bandana Heroism

mourned, “The thought of his dying was overwhelmed by the way in which he died, by saving others.” (Kevin Eullen). In addition, a man who not only put others before himself, but did so passionately, was Abraham Lincoln. According to a White House Funeral Sermon for Abraham Lincoln by Dr.Phineas Gurley, Lincoln represented and defended his cause of freedom for all, “...not for himself only, not for us only, but for all people in their coming generations.” Gurley continues on to explain that although…

Words 963 - Pages 4