Yesterday’s Memorial

God . . . Yesterday was the 17th . . . How could I forget that day? Six years ago yesterday, Linda McCartney died of breast/liver cancer.

::Sighs:: You know, I think I’ve found an answer to something. Why there are good people, honest, trustworthy, caring people who are prematurely taken from us. Why someone like John Lennon is assassinated, why George Harrison was plagued with brain tumors, why Linda was taken by cancer, why Karen was taken from Art by cancer, why someone like Phil was shot. I believe that John, George, and Linda were good people. They did a lot for this world, and only wanted people to get along. Wanted to give harmony and peace to the rest of the world. Karen was someone who believed in ‘now-stalgia,’ and was deeply loved by her family. And I know that Phil was a good person, going to Iraq because he didn’t want people to be oppressed. He wanted them to have the same freedoms that we here in America do. Yet, he was killed for it.

I think that these people, and more like them, are taken from us prematurely, or what we consider to be prematurely, because . . . How do I say this? Well, let’s face it. So many people in this world suck. There are selfish, lying, manipulative jerks out there, and that’s putting it nicely. I think that when a good person is taken from us, and then we read their obitchuary, or the memories come flooding back to us, that we realize someone very special has been taken from us. That there’s this hole in the world, where they once were. And everyone knows that there are people who are hurting, because they’ve lost ons who mean so much to them. And I think the reason that good people are taken from us is because it encourages the ones left behind to become better people. It encourages all of us to look inside ourselves, and decide to be that little bit better, because maybe it will help fill the hole that was left by that person’s passing. I for one, am going to strive to be that little bit better of a person, because I believe that that’s the best way to honor someone who has died. Shrines, memorials, plaques, those comes and go. But being a better person stays, because the effect can ripple out to others. And that’s an influence that everyone needs, because everyone has room for improvement, and everyone can benefit from the influence of a good person.

–Notes–

Some people believe that God does not take people in death until they are worthy of living in Heaven. Perhaps that is why, to quote the song, “Only the good die young.” It really does seem that way sometimes. [Jill*Rose]
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I think that is a stunningly powerful interpretation of death… one I agree with. I’m glad you see it that way, rather than anger and hate that they are gone, the realization that one can build on the emotions that they left with us, and make us stronger. That’s what eternal life truly is, the legacy of change for the good you leave behind. [Angel Knight]
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I agree that the best way to honour a person is to try and be a better person in their example. Cheers to you. [Red Again Finnegan]
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Something Pam’s mom said after her husband died: “God’s a greedy SOB. He takes all the good ones and brings them to him and leaves us all to suffer w/o them.” [HyacatDuncan]