Thursday, March 10, 2005
Time
Steve Hansen died, a biology teacher at Wausau East; he was only 39 years old.
I had him for biology my freshman year, but did not see much of him after that.
I earned a solid D in the 2nd quarter of that year.
So, to all those grieving his death, or any death, here is my recommendation:
Write down your memories. Write down all the things that you loved and hated about him. Write down the things that will instantaneously bring him back in your mind. Because immediately following a death you are going to hear all sorts of things about him from people who may not have known him as well as you did. You are going to hear cliches and generalizations that might cause your own detailed memories to fog over and lose the vivid nature that makes them truly yours and truly accurate. Write down who is he to you, so that if you start to forget one day, you always have your writings to fall back on so you can reclaim your relationship with him.
People will tell you that "he won't be forgotten." But what does that mean? After 9/11 we saw so many bumper stickers that read "Never Forget." Well I'll never forget my first beer, so what significance does that give the phrase "We'll never forget..." It is a nice sentiment and nobody should feel bad about using it, but I think there are things that could be said and written that mean much more. There are tons of things you'll never forget in your life; I think a person deserves more than that.
Death is one of those elusive things that intitially evades your hands and your mind. You feel like you should be able to grasp it, yet it exists in the air, like a leaf falling from a tree, it will float about in the wind, taking its time to fall, until it settles on the ground. Only time allows death to hit home.
Until Later.
I had him for biology my freshman year, but did not see much of him after that.
I earned a solid D in the 2nd quarter of that year.
So, to all those grieving his death, or any death, here is my recommendation:
Write down your memories. Write down all the things that you loved and hated about him. Write down the things that will instantaneously bring him back in your mind. Because immediately following a death you are going to hear all sorts of things about him from people who may not have known him as well as you did. You are going to hear cliches and generalizations that might cause your own detailed memories to fog over and lose the vivid nature that makes them truly yours and truly accurate. Write down who is he to you, so that if you start to forget one day, you always have your writings to fall back on so you can reclaim your relationship with him.
People will tell you that "he won't be forgotten." But what does that mean? After 9/11 we saw so many bumper stickers that read "Never Forget." Well I'll never forget my first beer, so what significance does that give the phrase "We'll never forget..." It is a nice sentiment and nobody should feel bad about using it, but I think there are things that could be said and written that mean much more. There are tons of things you'll never forget in your life; I think a person deserves more than that.
Death is one of those elusive things that intitially evades your hands and your mind. You feel like you should be able to grasp it, yet it exists in the air, like a leaf falling from a tree, it will float about in the wind, taking its time to fall, until it settles on the ground. Only time allows death to hit home.
Until Later.
