"The devil finally called my name," says Cape Breton man in his obituary

Angus MacDonald's obituary starts off like this: "So, the world doesn't have Angus MacDonald to kick around anymore. I'm gone! The devil finally called my name. The grim reaper came for me on Friday March 25,2016. I bought the farm. I bit the dust. So I guess I'm off to the promised land eh? The promised land! Imagine!"

Yes, he wrote his own obituary, and it reveals a lovely, funny man devoted to his family and happy with his lot in life. I love the part where he hopes he meets his beloved dog in heaven ("a place in the after-life where little dogs and old dawgs go". To read the obituary in full, click here.

Obituaries serve the primary purpose of notifying a community that one of its members has passed on, so that friends and family can give their condolences to the next of kin. Not many obituaries are written before someone dies, and fewer still are written ahead of time by the deceased person. One like Mr. MacDonald's brings a smile, and that's got to be something good for his family.

To read a story from CBC with reaction to the obituary, click here.