Eulogies

Here are two stories that brought a touch of warmth to my cold, cynical heart.

A married couple dies within hours of each other. "Lou, I love you. I had a wonderful life. I'll see you in another place."

Author John Scalzi writes about the passing of the family dog. "And both times I did the same thing. I petted her head, slid out of the chair and on to the floor, and held my dog while I cried, letting her be the one to share both my joy and pain, so I could go on to what I had to do next."

Weekly Secret

PostSecret

My Friend

Patrick Roy Kramer, May 6, 1977-October 22, 2006

All Things Will Die - Lord Alfred Tennyson

Clearly the blue river chimes in its flowing
Under my eye;
Warmly and broadly the south winds are blowing
Over the sky.
One after another the white clouds are fleeting;
Every heart this May morning in joyance is beating
Full merrily;
Yet all things must die.
The stream will cease to flow;
The wind will cease to blow;
The clouds will cease to fleet;
The heart will cease to beat;
For all things must die.
All things must die.
Spring will come never more.
O, vanity!
Death waits at the door.
See! our friends are all forsaking
The wine and the merrymaking.
We are call’d–we must go.
Laid low, very low,
In the dark we must lie.
The merry glees are still;
The voice of the bird
Shall no more be heard,
Nor the wind on the hill.
O, misery!
Hark! death is calling
While I speak to ye,
The jaw is falling,
The red cheek paling,
The strong limbs failing;
Ice with the warm blood mixing;
The eyeballs fixing.
Nine times goes the passing bell:
Ye merry souls, farewell.
The old earth
Had a birth,
As all men know,
Long ago.
And the old earth must die.
So let the warm winds range,
And the blue wave beat the shore;
For even and morn
Ye will never see
Thro’ eternity.
All things were born.
Ye will come never more,
For all things must die.

A Bullied Kid Commits Suicide

An eleven-year-old in Georgia has committed suicide because he couldn't handle any more bullying. I have written before about kids and bullying and this subject is one close to my heart. Parents and students need to do more to stop this. It can't just be written off as "kids will be kids." No! In this case the boy's mother complained to the school about it several times and nothing was done. This is unacceptable. Parents and schools need to work with children about the importance of not bullying and if (when, I should say) it does happen, the hammer needs to come down. Hard. Nothing good comes from bullying. It doesn't make the kid being bullied tougher. It's not the bully just letting out some harmless aggression. It is a vicious assault against someone whether physical violence takes place or not. The scars of bullying last for a lifetime.

And sometimes that life ends too early because of the bullying. That's not acceptable.

A Brief Moment of Joy Before the End

If this doesn't choke you up just a little, you may be a Vulcan.

Fight Fire With Fire

A couple of weeks ago, I happened to be camping right near the start of the Cascade Fire which broke out near Red Lodge. I had gone camping with my daughters as well as my friend, Jeromy, and his wife and two kids. We camped across from Timberline the previous night and that morning drove up to the start of the Quinnebaugh Meadows trail. We ended up cutting our hike a little short because the kids were tired. When we got back to our vehicles, we decided to refill our water bottles from the river. While we were doing that I noticed this...









That was our cue to leave. Now. Racing down the road, the fire was within fifty yards of the road. Once we were clear, though, I had to stop and take a few more pictures.





It was an incredible experience. Jeromy said he heard we were one of the last to get out on our own. Everyone else hiking the trail had to be evacuated by helicopter. Isn't it amazing how quickly things like this can happen? I'm grateful that we all got out okay, but also excited to have been so close. It was beautiful even as it was terrifying.

This Too Shall Pass

A coworker and good friend called me this morning to say that her husband had passed away. When she got out of the shower this morning she found him slumped over in his chair. She called 911 and performed CPR, but to no avail. The doctor said it was a "massive heart attack." He was only 53-years old.

Death is nothing new to our species and nothing I write about it now is going to offer any new insight into it. Today's event, though, reminds me of how fleeting and fragile our meager existence is. No matter what your religion, no matter what you believe about an afterlife (or lack thereof), you have to accept the fact that the life we have right now is tender and precious and gone all too quickly.

Tell the people you care about that you love them. Live every day as if it is your last, for no matter who you are this, too, shall pass.