The other day I listened to a couple on TV share about their ‘shrine’ to their murdered daughter. They showed us her bedroom that they keep the same as if she was still alive. Some folks keep photo’s of a loved in the living room to remember them. Some people in the past alot have gone to a gravestone in order to feel closer to a loved one who’s gone on.
I was sorta crazy about keeping and going thru Marc’s things. I kept his shampoo, pens or writing tablets, etc and still use them and think of him. Sometimes I may browse thru some of his books, his music and just stop and deeply admire how he was on the right track with his growth in politics, cultural issues. Marc’s best friend was given a number of his shirts, bike parts, etc. Part of me really wants to ‘cling’ tightly to Marc and that’s okay.
‘No Shrine’ means of course Marc isn’t a god, but it also means …. he’s not stuck in time! He’s not stuck in our hearts like some memory that we pull out once a year. How do you put a guy who loved to bike the hills and valleys into a box? How do you shape a gravestone so it declares ‘life’ after death?! How do you share about someone who met every person or challenge with faith, hope and love? He really did! Can a photo describe how a man used cooking, music or laughter to help him go thru life?
Someone either touches you or they don’t, you don’t need to make up things. Marc and I could watch or read about issues that were full of humanity … the good, bad & the ugly. He responded with courage, honor and convictions I was sometimes so surprised he had. Things in politics, current events, whatever could bring out the best in him. So, it’s natural that I write about him in a blog. I gave him ‘life’, he gave me ‘life’, now I’m trying to bring him a new life of sorts …. not only in this blog but in the lives of the defendants and others, if possible.
At one of my aunts funeral several years ago, I sang a southern gospel song ‘Ain’t No Grave Gonna Keep My Body Down’. That’s a good description of how Marc would not want to be contained. He was someone with a curious, deep mind and heart who wasn’t afraid to explore the world. He was totally real with us too. Just loved that about him! Jesus couldn’t be confined to a grave and neither are we supposed to be!