When my beloved Great Aunt Mary--essentially my grandmother on my dad’s side--passed away, we gathered up her old shrub rose, over a century of age, and replanted it in our garden.
I think it is especially difficult Doug, for we Minnesotans to accept this kind of vainglorious personality. We are so self-effacing we don’t want to bring attention to ourselves if not absolutely necessary. So someone like him just does not fit in our view of the world.
“Sane people. Good people. Rational, normal people. Do not erect . . . (monuments) to themselves. Period. Ever.”
Conclusion? Insane, evil, irrational, abnormal, vengeful individuals may try to do so and risk exposure of hubris. Since Ancient Greek times to this very day hubris has never worked well!
It just keeps on coming, doesn’t it? I despise this person and used to react to every insane thing he said or did. My hide has toughened I guess, but it doesn’t make me despise him any less. You are right about how we memorialize our loved ones with things that remind us of them. For me it’s reading, music, birds and flowers. Now those are things that bring me joy and a smile on my face. I refuse to let this little man take any of those things away from me. Oh, and I can’t forget one more ingrained memory, or should I say, feeling, that is in my memory of almost everyone that has made a lasting and significant impact on me…kindness. Whenever I smile or greet a stranger and get the same thing back, or when I open a door or give up my seat to someone who needs it more than I do, it reminds me that kind those who are in my memories taught me this, and gives me peace. I wish the same for everyone else.
My sister died at 49. We buried her while the red buds were blooming in the woods next to their house. I brought one home and planted it in my yard. I drove by it the other day in full bloom - my sister lives on!
We are planting a small pine tree in our yard. I got the tiny sapling a couple years ago at a friend's father's memorial service. He was a lifelong conservationist. The little tree is big enough to plant in the yard now. And although we plant it with the knowledge we will never see it reach its full height, it still brings me joy to know it will grow in honor of a man who lived a quiet, humble life, who raised his children and taught them and generations of his students to care about the environment, to love the forest, to embrace our role on earth as caretakers. As for the Creature, it will eventually be consumed by its own folly, hopefully before too much damage is done.
I think it is especially difficult Doug, for we Minnesotans to accept this kind of vainglorious personality. We are so self-effacing we don’t want to bring attention to ourselves if not absolutely necessary. So someone like him just does not fit in our view of the world.
Yes…. and in any mentally healthy person’s view.
“Sane people. Good people. Rational, normal people. Do not erect . . . (monuments) to themselves. Period. Ever.”
Conclusion? Insane, evil, irrational, abnormal, vengeful individuals may try to do so and risk exposure of hubris. Since Ancient Greek times to this very day hubris has never worked well!
Good conclusion.
It just keeps on coming, doesn’t it? I despise this person and used to react to every insane thing he said or did. My hide has toughened I guess, but it doesn’t make me despise him any less. You are right about how we memorialize our loved ones with things that remind us of them. For me it’s reading, music, birds and flowers. Now those are things that bring me joy and a smile on my face. I refuse to let this little man take any of those things away from me. Oh, and I can’t forget one more ingrained memory, or should I say, feeling, that is in my memory of almost everyone that has made a lasting and significant impact on me…kindness. Whenever I smile or greet a stranger and get the same thing back, or when I open a door or give up my seat to someone who needs it more than I do, it reminds me that kind those who are in my memories taught me this, and gives me peace. I wish the same for everyone else.
My sister died at 49. We buried her while the red buds were blooming in the woods next to their house. I brought one home and planted it in my yard. I drove by it the other day in full bloom - my sister lives on!
Yes indeed.
We are planting a small pine tree in our yard. I got the tiny sapling a couple years ago at a friend's father's memorial service. He was a lifelong conservationist. The little tree is big enough to plant in the yard now. And although we plant it with the knowledge we will never see it reach its full height, it still brings me joy to know it will grow in honor of a man who lived a quiet, humble life, who raised his children and taught them and generations of his students to care about the environment, to love the forest, to embrace our role on earth as caretakers. As for the Creature, it will eventually be consumed by its own folly, hopefully before too much damage is done.