Blast Off

Two for one sales are great. Who doesn't want a freebie.  But one deceased man might be pushing the limit on taste. You could say that Leroy "Blast" Black is gone but definitely not forgotten. Like it or not. That's because the The New Jersey man is remembered in two ways after his recent death at age 55. You see,  his wife and his girlfriend placed rival obituaries in the local newspaper the other day, a two for one many might find odd.

Well, give Blast credit for winning the love of two women at the same time. (Let's hope a third doesn't surface with another obit of Blast). The two death notices for him came about because "the wife wanted it one way, and the girlfriend wanted it another way," a spokesman for Greenidge Funeral Homes said. Greenidge just sends the obits to the newspaper for publication. It doesn't censor or limit the number of them. The good news is that there was only one funeral for Blast.

Both obituaries mention some of the same things, as in Blast's son, Jazz Black or that he died from cancer exposure contacted at work (he worked with fiberglass). But the two widows have some other variations in their obits of Blast. The one placed by Blast's wife says he is "survived by his loving wife, Bearetta Harrison Black" and lists two other children, while the other omits the wife but mentions "longtime girlfriend, Princess Hall" along with five siblings and "a host of other family, friends, and neighbors."

Blast was a lucky guy. At least both obits were written in praise of him. If given two obits from two different lovers most of us would be more likely to have some negative remarks somewhere in them.  And that would not be a blast!