This
Journal

October
1999

Sad news this morning during second period when Fr. Bob announced over the p.a. that three of last year's Carmel graduates had been in a serious car accident and two of them had died. We were in the middle of a very hesitant conversation about Poe. As Bob spoke and prayed a psalm I looked around the room for any students who might be reacting strongly; none seemed to be. A couple pulled out their yearbooks to look up the names and pictures. After a pause I noted that the sudden deaths of loved ones were influential in Poe's life, and that death in more general terms figured importantly in the stories. The urge to transcend death's power was at the root of many of the tales. I tried to make these comments with some sensitivity, without the crass implication that this tragedy was just another part of the lesson plan. No one seemed to be offended.

Because these were sophomores and my subsequent classes were freshmen, I didn't experience the impact of the news too directly...though each class made a point of praying for these graduates and their families. But teary faces were not uncommon in the halls and among some faculty.

Kids die like everyone else, but few things are worse than the deaths of young people; and unfortunately you can't work in schools for very long before you get your share of them. I remember other deaths by car, illness, violence, sudden storm. They twist a person's sense of the world; a day that had seemed completely ordinary is suddenly lifted and toppled, spindled inside out and dropped at our feet. A kick in the head.

So I'm remembering all those other kids along with these new ones I'll never know. I'd like to think they're off somewhere together being young forever, but this is not for us to know. From this side of Big Mystery it just looks like a huge waste.

So here's my message for any of you Kids out there (of any age): TAKE CARE. Sure, sometimes you have no control over the circumstances, but take care when you can. Buckle up those damn seatbelts. Slow down. Decline that poison somebody wants you to try. Stay healthy in body, mind and spirit. Do this for yourself, for your families, for your friends, and for the odd people out here, like me, who may not have a formal connection but who do love you anyhow...as we can, in our way.

And of course I'm a fool for bothering to type this, because even if you are reading it I know you're not caring that some cautious old fart wants you to live long enough to become a cautious old fart yourself. (It's really not such a bad life after all, you know, being a cautious old...)

(Come to think of it, a good fart is one of life's most sublime pleasures, ain't it? Stay alive.)

Death is a Dialogue between,
The Spirit and the Dust.
Emily Dickinson