Will We Be Thrown in The Trash?
A few people I knew died recently. All of them younger than me.
In one case - the death was sudden and unexpected.?
At the funeral, they were giving out bookmarkers with his picture on it. This is apparently a common practice these days, a way in which the deceased can be remembered.
When I got home, I stared at the bookmarker. I tried to use it to mark pages in a book I am reading - but gave up, because it just did not seem right.
So I tossed the bookmarker into the trash.
I then pondered. Is this the fate that awaits me?
Will my face appear on a bookmarker one day, only to be thrown away - a useless piece of paper treated as trash?
(More people are using e-readers now, so bookmarkers are going out of style anyway).
The question lingers. What is a life worth?
Close family members who died years ago are rarely spoken about.
Their pictures hang on the wall, gathering dust.
In a recent conversation about one long-dead relative - we talked about how annoying the person had been. Not about their good qualities, but their quirks and the pain they inflicted upon us.
When I listen to music, I enjoy older singers who are now all gone.
At least they've left a legacy. Something that future generations can enjoy.
Very few of us will leave behind hit songs or best-selling novels. Some of us may leave behind a series of YouTube videos with rapidly diminishing relevance.
But there is something that everyone can leave behind - something that means a lot - and that's the way in which we treat other people.?
It's something I work on every day, and often, fail at miserably.
But I am trying. To be kinder, more thoughtful - more caring.
It's not always easy in a world that is moving at lightening speed.
Yet - the humanity we show others is, after all is said and done, what seems to matter the most. It matters right now. And it will matter in the years ahead.
No bookmarker can capture that.?
It's all about making good memories.
Student at Africa Nazarene University
2 年U R the 2nd greatest, long live Easy Jazz FM
Vendor Relationship and Contract Manager
2 年?? % Cory
Maintenance clerk at Air Transat
2 年That was not very nice of you , I have some memorabilia of my friends who passed and when I see them remember the friendship and I say hi ??
Founder at The Developments Group 07492070000
2 年The value of life depends on it's outcome.
?? Bridge Builder
2 年Your post got me thinking that the Mary Angelou quote 'At the end of the day people won't remember what you said or did, they will remember how you made them feel.' If listening to songs from our youth makes us feel young again, these artists will be remembered beyond their objective talent. If somebody did all the "right things" but while doing behaved in a way so we felt belittled or powerless, we may even associate a good outcome with bad feelings. Q: To those who did fabulously to prove somebody else wrong, does it still sting?