Good morning, everyone. Im hoping you all had a peaceful holiday, no matter how you chose to spend it. Its a beautiful morning here in the White Mountains. Bright sun, spectacular warmth (for us, anyway), with a touch of expectancy floating about in the great outdoors. Atticus is raring to go and I am, too. But first a note about something one of my moderators just shared with me. Im told there was a woman out here who posted an angry response about my profession that Im not mourning Will during the holidays. Im told she went on at length and was quite adamant that I am not a good man. I believe she wrote, Tom Ryan is not the saint some of you think he is. Well, shes right about that. Im no saint. I dont think any of us are. Like everyone else, Im just trying to figure life out as I go along. That means walking the tightrope between good and bad and slipping over to either side for a spell, and then back the other way. Its called life. Ive come to believe that the mysterious power(s) that be doesnt quite care who we were, as much as who we are, and who we are striving to be. We all have our demons but Id like to believe we all try to do well as often as we can. And to that womans comment, no matter how good or bad we are, isnt the point to always try to do better? No matter our shortcomings, each of us has the ability every now and again to do something to make the world a better place, at least our little corner of it. So why not take that chance? It may or may not make up for our shortcomings, but it does some good in the grand scheme of things. One of my favorite Emerson quotes, and I used it in our book, Following Atticus, goes like this: Our faith comes in moments; our vice is habitual. I often think of the vast black sky pin-pricked with hopeful stars to light the way. Its the stars that make it spectacular and interesting. Im not sure exactly what the woman was upset about. Id never met her or had any correspondence with her but again, I will agree with her. Im not a saint. Im just a guy who wants to live life his way and has given it a great deal of thought. I like the journey Im on, and I like that on any given day, at any given hour, something special can happen. As for grieving over Will . . . Im not really sure what Im supposed to be grieving. A lost soul came to us with what we expected to be a few months to live. Because of his circumstances Will was miserable when he came to us and for a little while I hoped he wouldnt live very long - thats how unhappy he was. But Will did what many cannot do, he chose to live again. He embraced his love of the outdoors, fragrant smells, good food, the vibrations found in music that lifted him to what appeared to be an ethereal plane. Nearly two and a half years after coming to live with us he died. In my arms. The last thing he saw was a man who grew to love him and treat him not as anything other than the equal thats found in friendship. In the last days of his life he was surrounded by thousands of the flowers he adored. People changed their profile pictures on Facebook to Will. Millions read his story and were touched by it in his last week alive. And the night he died, 27,000 people blew up the Conway Area Humane Society website attempting to donate in his name to help animals in need. Will is going to live on for as long as there are words and memories. His story is now without end. How can I not be happy for him? I choose not to mourn because theres not a lot to be sad about. He lived a spectacular two and a half years. I dont know many people who can say the same. So I celebrate his life and smile at his memory. If tears come, its because of my happiness for him and the overwhelming grace found in his story and how he turned things around. When Will came to us, no matter the reason, he was no saint either. He was a son-of-a-gun, although I use far more colorful words than that to express how Will was in his first few months here in Jackson. But Will chose a different way, a different life. Thats the glory of the story. No one embraces a story that starts and ends with, and they lived happily ever after. Something has to happen to make it interesting. And Wills life was interesting and worthy to be told. We all have a right to look at life and death the way we choose to. Although Im not religious, I choose to anticipate death as the next adventure and Im curious about the mystery of it all. In my mind, theres nothing to mourn. Wills body was used up and done by the day he left us. However, his heart and soul were reclaimed. I take comfort in knowing, that like all of us, he was no saint, but in his case, he chose to move forward to a different life - a better life. As the months pass from Wills last day, and Im hoping it is this way for years to come, I find a kinship with Will in being a non-saint who tried to make better choices as life went on. Thats the kind of company that warms and inspires me. Onward, by all means, everyone.
Posted on: Fri, 26 Dec 2014 14:53:46 +0000
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