I’ll Always Remember

Many people spent at least part of their long weekend traveling to cemeteries to take part in the annual “decoration”. This seems like an appropriate time to talk about those we’ve lost.

In my lifetime, I’ve seen several friends and family members pass away. The first I really remember, and the first to really impact me, was my great grandmother who passed just before I turned ten years old. Her husband, my great grandfather, was also very important in my life but despite remembering him and what a fun fellow he was, I don’t remember his passing (I was about three years old at the time).

Some of the saddest and most draining experiences have been losing friends at a young age. One of my good friends from college passed away over seven years ago. We were very close in age, and shared several interests and had a similar love, admiration, and closeness with our grandfathers. He was killed in a car accident one cold day in December, and I had seen him and joked with him earlier that day.

Maybe the hardest death to deal with is the slow and agonizing death of someone close to you. You don’t know if you should wish them comfort and a quicker journey or a longer time on earth to finish their last acts, words and thoughts.

It sometimes amazes me that some friends of mine can be rather unemotional and almost “clinical” about dealing with the difficulty of losing someone. For me, it’s as if an actual piece of myself has been cut away as I think back over the times we shared and realize that no more will be shared. I don’t know if these friends are in a late stage of denial, if they are actually aware of this lack of emotion and it is really a coping skill, or if they genuinely don’t feel the same type of loss when someone dies.

These were just some thoughts I had as I think back over my Memorial Day weekend. This three day weekend means different things to different Americans. For me, it is for reuniting with family and remembering and honoring those we’ve lost especially those who’ve made the supreme sacrifice for our freedom. Hope you had a happy, meaningful, productive and safe weekend.