Dealing with the passing of a parent is not an easy thing. I know. I dealt with the passing of my mother a little over six months ago. Dealing with the passing of both parents can also be quite trying. I know this too. My father passed away just a couple of week ago. These last two weekends, I have dealt with being in my parents’ house, trying to determine what belongings I wish to have, and what I can part with through an estate sale. Its not been easy. Today, I pack up a small rental moving truck with most of the belongings I wish to keep. Some of it – in particular five large living room cabinets – will be problematic, but I should be smart enough to figure out a solution. Other aspects will merely be packing boxes. In all, I may be taking less than an 1/8th of what is here. But its not the amount of things I take that matters, its the memories that are attached to them.

In all reality, I’m still dealing with my grief for the passing of both of my parents. But I am reminded that I have my own life that continues. I see the amount of material that my parents have left behind – the amount of material that is pure detritus – just collections of “stuff” — and I know that I have a very similar problem at my own home. Material that serves no other purpose than taking up room. My footprint must become smaller. I’d much rather pass tangible memories on to my family, then a pile of material that has to be sorted, cataloged, and disseminated after I pass beyond the veil.

While I was at the OBOD Gulf Coast Gathering, I encountered, mingled, and meshed with a group of people that I fit with. Not friends, not people I know – family, in the purest sense of the word. I want to pass and share memories with these people, things that transcend material objects…shared moments of experience. And I can’t do that sitting in my home, sequestered from the world around me. Yet again, I feel the gentle nudge from Crow – get out there, be a part of it. Yes, that’s how I will make those lasting memories – those shared experiences that will be held far beyond the sentiment behind some physical object.