Belief, Family, I Don't Know...

Gordon Lightfoot is out of the public eye. The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald no longer gets the media it once got. The 29 people who died when the ship went down are no longer remembered much outside their home towns.

It's too bad, but that's the way the world works. Life in the fast lane. It's a shame, though. The only people who really cared about the Edmund Fitzgerald's crew have to realize that the hemispheric grief engendered by Gordon's music is gone. It must be tough. In the overall scheme of things, no one outside their personal circles really cared. No one else mourned, at least not in a way that conveyed true grief.

I can tell you my greatest hope, if I were to die unexpectedly. I would want my wife to be treated well by everyone. I would want people to help her financially and emotionally. I would want for people to help her get her footing. And I would want people to help her forget me and move on. A new life, a new love, a new husband...whatever it took to make her happy. And I would want my family and friends to acknowledge my beliefs...such as, there is no God, so don't worship me in a church. I would want people to celebrate, not mourn! Celebrate my life, even if it's not worth celebrating! Eat, drink, talk about me, tell stories. But, be content with a small crowd. I do not have many friends, nor do I want them. I may want more than I have, but I want my circle to be small. It's intentional.

Now some people would say, or think, I'm acting morbidly. To talk about one's own death...! I see it from a different angle. I look at it as an opportunity to live and act the way one wants, before it's impossible. If my bones, my organs, my skin, can help someone else, I want my friends and family to give them freely. It's not like my skin, etc., will be important to me! I'm not looking for assurances my lungs will go to a good cause, only that my lungs won'tg be horded if they are needed!

I love my wife very, very much. The same is true for my brothers and sisters and extended family! Why is it so hard to say it in person? I do wish my parents had imparted to the kids an ability to be emotionally expressive! I got the gene, but it's just the weeping gene!

Holding a person close, hugging a person, really feeling close to someone, that's a remarkable feeling. It's so rare, though. It is something that all families should reinforce. It's something my parents did not do a good job at. If it were possible for all of us to live it over again, we'd all be more emotive, more willing to share our feelings and thoughts, and more willing to challenge the mainstream. Oh, well, maybe next time...oh, I forgot, I don't believe in a next time...