In Memory

So, I get up this morning to feed Isaac and I turn on the Today Show (as I have become accustomed to doing every morning). After a short time I realize there is quite a bit of focus on this being the day that Elvis died, 30 years ago. It is really the story of the day!

I was only 1 year old when Elvis died, so I honestly cannot understand all the hype. It amazes me how people can idolize celebrities. People, mostly strangers to him, still travel across the country to Graceland to see where he lived and died and to remember him in life and death. I am not trying to make light of it. I think it is certainly a good thing to honor those who have passed on, I just don't understand the public idolitry of it all.

Perhaps it is because on this same day I honor a different person. Someone who was not by any means a public idol, but certainly a hero to me and those who knew him. No one will travel across country to see where he lived or to visit his grave, and there will be no candelight vigils or benefit concerts in his name. No one has written, or likely will ever write a book about him, but he was a truly successful and accomplished man. 3 years ago today, my father passed away.

I can recount every detail of that entire weekend fairly well. I remember shortly after he passed someone telling me that the "horrible memories of death" fade away and you begin to focus on the good memories from life. I think that has been true to an extent. Day by day I no longer focus on what happened that weekend and I more often than not focus on all the really great memories that I have of my father. But once a year, on the date of his passing, I am taken back to that weekend and I can remember it as if it were yesterday.

It does make me think about all the fan fare surrounding Elvis. While crowds of people gather to remember his life, there are probably a small handful of others who are recounting the details of his death. Details that only they know. Details that take them back 30 years as if it were yesterday. Details that draw them together with a special closeness that no one else can share.

I guess it is not all that surprising that after only 3 years I have such a vivid memory of it all, but I feel like I will never forget it. I don't really want to. I have said this before, but I am glad that I shared the last moments of my father's life with him. God provided us with many blessings that I did not expect to experience through the death of someone so close to me. So today, I remember death. Some things difficult to remember but none the less still very special to me. And then I go on to remember life and the many more very special moments...until next year.