Tuesday, August 26, 2003
The Good Die
When some men die, the news is interrupted, the flags fly at half mast, and there are parades of dignitaries making speeches. A man died today- a man you never heard of, who's name will not even be in bold print when it is listed in the obituaries. He died quietly and of his own choice (rather then be forever joined to a machine) with the four people he loved most around him. I wonder which of these men has had the richer life.
One was a man who's world was made of material goods, who knew very powerful and important people but had very few real friends, and who caused flags to lowered but conversations to turn to how to best take advantage his death.
The other a man who worked hard for the very little he had but loved his work. He never said "No" to anyone and did what he could to help those who came to him in need. He did not know a lot of people but those he did know he cherished. He was a simple man who lived a simple life and relished in its simpler pleasures. With his passing, a huge void has been left in the hearts of his friends and family.
So who was richer, the man who devoted himself to a life of numbers and possessions, or the man who devoted himself to life? Is it the man who's name will be recorded in history books and carved in granite, or the man who's name is etched in the hearts of loved ones and who's memory- the true memory of who he was- will live on for as long as those who knew him are alive?
When you die, your Jaguar won't be parked in the hospital room and those winters in Barbados will be nothing but a faded memory if you remember them at all. The only things that will matter to you will be the warm and caring hand holding yours and the sounds of weeping as the overture to your departure.
posted by The Pendragon at 8/26/2003 07:13:00 PM
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