Yeah, a melodramatic title, but quite truthful.
I've been busy writing, as I hope to continue being, but got derailed a tad the past few days.
Had the shocking news, last week, of the self-inflicted death of an old friend of mine, Mark Hilton. The past couple of nights have been filled with old friends getting together informally in twos and threes and remembering him.
Today was the memorial service, since he was already cremated. It was a well done service, there were laughs and tears abounding. We all said our goodbyes, and comforted the others who were left behind.
Not that I'm trying to get you down! Death really is the Final Commonality, the one activity that every single human being is heir to and in which all will take part. It's part of the rules for being human.
It's good food for thought and philosophizing, if one has an inclination for that sort of thing. And, as an inveterate (and irreverent) gamer, the entire situation today started ideas running through my head. I'll keep them to myself for now; they need some time to gestate, to grow and mature just a tad before I present any of them. For right now, it's just too soon.
I will share this one though, since my friend himself was a most avid gamer and almost a third of the attendees today were from our old gaming club: We sat around after the service, drinking tea and eating deviled eggs, meatballs-on-a-stick, and quarter-inch slices of spicy turkey pinwheels and wondered if it would be possible/legal to compress the man's ashes into a set of dice.
I know, we're horrible, but Mark would have appreciated the joke and laughed along with us.
Wherever you are, dude, I hope you're still rollin' them bones!
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