A Stranger's Goodbye

     I was cleaning out some files in my home office yesterday and found a poem I had written in 2002. It was prompted by an obituary I read in that day's paper. I'm embarassed to admit I actually sent it to the newspaper to see if they would put it in the Opinion section where they publish reader's letters to the editor. (Did I just admit that??) They didn't. There were more noteworthy letters to publish about much more important things going on in the world.
   So I filed my little poem away and forgot about it. I wouldn't have found it at all if not for the cleaning kick I'm still on. I thought I'd post it here since in this tiny little part of the world, I'm the editor.
     I think it sums up why people read obituaries, or at least why I read them.  It's not out of morbidity. It's empathy. We read the departed's name, a few facts about them, the names of who will miss them, and we think of that soul for just a moment.  For that moment we connect with strangers grieving for the same person. Deep down we are hoping that when it's our obituary in the paper, a stranger will take a minute to think about us.
     The obituary I read that day was for a child. Empathy is the most profound when it's because the life lost is a child's. We take a few extra moments to think about those young souls and to grieve with those families. 

A STRANGER'S GOODBYE

I read about you in the paper today

Right after the story of the war far away

After I read of the murder of a mother and son

And after the story about the hit-and-run

I had already read more about ground zero

And saw the memorials to local heroes

There was a story about germ warfare

And more about the Anthrax scare

Page after page about all that is bad

Strange, but I should have felt more sad

Then it was after the announcements of births

That I read about how you left this earth

You were only thirteen, just crossing the street

You were hit and the world didn't miss a beat

They mentioned what happened in just a few lines

But when I read them I began to cry

You were just a small figure in a sea of lives

Another child un-named that needlessly died

But you were the world to those who loved you

For them the world stopped the moment they knew

What can be said to bring them comfort?

Can anything ever heal their hurt?

Perhaps the memories of you can ease the pain

Or the knowledge that now you are in God's hands

Just maybe it helps to know that others care

That the loss of your life mattered to a stranger out there

That your story, although obscure among all the rest

Was read and will be remembered the best

I'll pray for you and for those whom you loved

May God keep you in his love

     That's my post for today.  It's a little bit sad, but a little hopeful too. Our human emotions, whether they be sorrow, empathy, joy, or fear, connect us all and enable us to relate to each other. We may not share the same experiences, but we do share the same emotions. When we feel these things for one another we're reminded that we're not alone. Even among strangers, we're not alone.

Photo courtesy of Maggie Smith