PAGE THREE Dispatches From . . .

We side with Heather Hampton in the opinion that if you skip the obit page, you're missing some of the most interesting reading in the newspaper.

Life's Last Spotlight

My mother teases me because I read the obituary page. Whenever I get a free moment to read the paper, a cup of tea with lemon in hand, I end my reading with the obits. I skim the names, read their stories, let my imagination guess the reasons for their nicknames and sigh when they are younger than my 35 years. I am curious about their cause of death, but sometimes I frown when it is listed and is something horrific and tragic.

I look for names I know, a familiar face, but normally I just read about strangers who no longer share physical space on this planet with me. I read the names of their survivors and wonder how these family members are doing now that their loved one has passed away: the children, brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers, wives and husbands, and even the beloved dog. I read about all the things they have done in their lives and look at the pictures submitted: the old wedding photos, the military photos, the photos of newborns, the photos of once-living people smiling warmly into the camera. They can be so expressive and yet sometimes amazingly haunting.

My mother chuckles when she catches me reading the obits. "There she goes again," she says. "That is so morbid."

I laugh. "I like to think that I am giving someone their final 15 minutes of fame," I say and continue to read.

Perhaps browsing the obits is a bit morbid, but every life is important, and every person is notable. It is also a small reminder that life is too darn short to waste time.

-- Heather Hampton, Reston

A Good Samaritan's Home Search

My friend, an engineer with the Consumer Product Safety Commission, was looking to buy a house. Many home sellers had growing families and were looking to move into larger houses, so the presence of a baby's crib in the smallest bedroom was not unusual. My friend was always ready to buy whatever house she saw next, so I would go along to play devil's advocate and point out the house's possible deficiencies, such as a lack of adequate closet space.

The first time I saw her do it, I was a bit shocked. The second time, the shock wasn't as great. By the third time, the shock had worn off and was replaced with admiration. You see, while we were walking through the open houses, she was also checking the cribs in those nurseries to ensure that they were in compliance with the latest CPSC safety guidelines. On one occasion, she crawled under a crib and tightened its bolts. On another occasion, she jotted a note on her business card, gave it to the open house's agent and asked that it be passed on to the homeowners, as she wanted them to know they were using a crib that had been recalled.

-- Mark Tune, Arlington County