Preface to the Eulogy for George Richardson

These are my comments from my preface to Kathie's eulogy today for my grandfather, George John Richardson.  They include what I wrote on Wednesday, per the request of my family.  I did, however, expand upon them to give a little more context to what I had written the day he died.

George John Richardson

December 15, 1926 - June 13, 2012

I think every man has some wish, deep down inside of him and however small, that the world will stop the day he dies – if only long enough to acknowledge it has suffered some loss.  But it never does, not for anyone.  That’s a good thing, too, because if it did, nothing would ever get done.

Most men live lives that are seemingly unremarkable, and so their passing comes with no little to no fanfare or pomp. The significance of the event is marked solely by the presence of the people with whom they cared to share their lives.  It is our smaller, individual worlds that stop at these times, giving us an opportunity for reflection, a chance to take stock of what is important in our lives – to recall WHO is important in our lives.

It is moments like this that remind us that grief, though entirely human and expected, is a feeling based also on the negative sentiment of possessiveness: we want to believe that the person who has died was – nay, is! - ours. But they were not. They belonged entirely to themselves and gave a portion of who they were to us.

These gifts, our memories of them, are like the paintings of a celebrated artist in that they increase in value with their passing because new ones will never be made. They are that most precious commodity that can be traded between friends and family while never being lost to us ourselves.

It is in this way that we all achieve a modicum of immortality; not by inhabiting a material body eternally, but rather by touching the hearts and minds of those we have met throughout our lives. We are known to have existed because we are remembered.

We are the very ties that bind.

Knowing this, I want to thank you on behalf of our family for being here today to join us in paying our respects to a man who, above all else, cherished his family and friends.