RIP Gail Hench

[ivan]

i'm shit at effecting empathy at a miserable moment like this - i can't and don't choose to think of it - never an originalist, i can never think of the death of any person without these words of whitman in my head, though i don't even know if i agree w/ him - some part of me wants it to be true though, if only to make life more managable

 

an excerpt from "song of myself"

 

A child said, What is the grass? fetching it to me with full

hands;

How could I answer the child?. . . .I do not know what it

is any more than he.

 

I guess it must be the flag of my disposition, out of hopeful

green stuff woven.

 

Or I guess it is the handkerchief of the Lord,

A scented gift and remembrancer designedly dropped,

Bearing the owner's name someway in the corners, that we

may see and remark, and say Whose?

 

Or I guess the grass is itself a child. . . .the produced babe

of the vegetation.

 

Or I guess it is a uniform hieroglyphic,

And it means, Sprouting alike in broad zones and narrow

zones,

Growing among black folks as among white,

Kanuck, Tuckahoe, Congressman, Cuff, I give them the

same, I receive them the same.

 

And now it seems to me the beautiful uncut hair of graves.

 

Tenderly will I use you curling grass,

It may be you transpire from the breasts of young men,

It may be if I had known them I would have loved them;

It may be you are from old people and from women, and

from offspring taken soon out of their mother's laps,

And here you are the mother's laps.

 

This grass is very dark to be from the white heads of old

mothers,

Darker than the colorless beards of old men,

Dark to come from under the faint red roofs of mouths.

 

O I perceive after all so many uttering tongues!

And I perceive they do not come from the roofs of mouths

for nothing.

 

I wish I could translate the hints about the dead young men

and women,

And the hints about old men and mothers, and the offspring

taken soon out of their laps.

 

What do you think has become of the young and old men?

What do you think has become of the women and

children?

 

They are alive and well somewhere;

The smallest sprouts show there is really no death,

And if ever there was it led forward life, and does not wait

at the end to arrest it,

And ceased the moment life appeared.

 

All goes onward and outward. . . .and nothing collapses,

And to die is different from what any one supposed, and

luckier.

 

[RuMR]

Brian,

 

So sorry for your loss...peace...

 

Rudy

[catbirdseat]

Cat - just now looking at this thread. My condolences for your loss. Didn't you also have some significant health issues of your own? How are you doing? I was just in LB to see my parents, will have to remember you're down that way now.

Joseph, I am quite healthy myself, if you don't count significant weight gain.

 

A couple of the brothers have stepped forward to help and for that I am grateful.

 

There will be an informal memorial on Saturday, July 18 in the back yard at our home. There won't be any speeches. It's just a barbecue. We'll do some salmon and have some beers and hang out. Time will be 1 to 4 pm.

 

If you would like to come, send me an IM just so I'll have an accurate count.

[tvashtarkatena]

My condolences after such a long and difficult trial, Brian.

 

 

[Fairweather]

Just noticed this. No words can comfort. We know she was a special woman because she tolerated and/or embraced the antics and obsessions of a husband climber. Hang in there.

[fgw]

Brian - my deepest condolences for your loss. I'm very sorry to hear this.

[JayB]

Hey Brian:

 

I'm very sorry for all of the pain, sorrow, and grief that you and your family have had to endure in the years transpired between the onset of the disease and your wife's passing.

 

I hope family, friends, and all of the other sources of comfort and happiness that life affords eased the hardship that your family endured during her illness, and provide you with ongoing comfort after her death.

 

 

[Chad_A]

Oh my goodness. My best condolences to you and your family. I can't imagine what that feels like.

[rob]

I can imagine. Take care, Brian. Yr a good man, I hope we get to climb again.

[catbirdseat]

I am in the home stretch in clearing out the house. Going through 19 years of possessions and memories to compress it all down to what will fit in a 10 foot U-Haul Truck has not been easy .

 

The plan is to set out on Monday morning. But I still have about 20 pieces of furniture to sell in one day. Not sure how I am going to do it.

 

It may be I have to fly back here the following weekend or the next. What a grind!

[Off_White]

Are you headed back down to So Cal?

[KaskadskyjKozak]

I am in the home stretch in clearing out the house. Going through 19 years of possessions and memories to compress it all down to what will fit in a 10 foot U-Haul Truck has not been easy .

 

The plan is to set out on Monday morning. But I still have about 20 pieces of furniture to sell in one day. Not sure how I am going to do it.

 

It may be I have to fly back here the following weekend or the next. What a grind!

 

At least you are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel with the house, Brian. Best wishes!