Has Val Patterson started a trendy new way to share one’s secrets? Perhaps. Patterson’s self-written obituary, published after his death last week, includes a paragraph of shocking (and, in some cases, shockingly funny) confessions. As it turns out, I AM the guy who stole the safe from the Motor View Drive Inn back in June, 1971. I could have left that unsaid, but I wanted to get it off my chest. Also, I really am NOT a PhD… Click here to read the rest of the PhD story – it's unlikely, hilarious and, according to Patterson's widow, completely true. Apparently, the rest of his confessions are, too. But there's more to Patterson's obituary than true confessions – from start to finish, it's an engaging glimpse into the life of a man we wish we could have known, full of memories of a good life. And it ends with a heartbreaking and candid confession of a single regret: My regret is that I felt invincible when young and smoked cigarettes when I knew they were bad for me… Written by Linnea Crowther
