The Insulting Epitaph - Analysis
Analysis: Implausible as it may seem, existing press coverage confirms that this is a real epitaph carved into the back of a tombstone located in the Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery in Montreal, Quebec:
JOHN,
FREE YOUR BODY AND SOUL
UNFOLD YOUR POWERFUL WINGS
CLIMB UP THE HIGHEST MOUNTAINS
KICK YOUR FEET UP IN THE AIR
YOU MAY NOW LIVE FOREVER
OR RETURN TO THIS EARTH
UNLESS YOU FEEL GOOD WHERE YOU ARE!MISSED BY YOUR FRIENDS
The headstone, which some accounts mistakenly place in the nearby Mount Royal Cemetery, belongs to one John Laird McCaffrey, who died in 1995 at the age of 54. By forming an acrostic using the first letter of each line, this secret message is revealed: "FUCK YOU."
With friends like these, it's safe to say Mr. McCaffrey needed no enemies.
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Sources and further reading:
Graveyard Rib-Ticklers
Montreal Mirror, 26 September 2002Set in Stone: Stories from the Dead Lands
The Link, 23 March 2004Find A Grave Memorial: John Laird McCaffrey
Find A Grave Memorial website
Last updated: 09/02/10
