{"id":525,"date":"2011-03-25T09:32:56","date_gmt":"2011-03-25T16:32:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rayivey.com\/wordpress\/?p=525"},"modified":"2011-04-05T12:02:50","modified_gmt":"2011-04-05T19:02:50","slug":"spring-forward-day-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.rayivey.com\/wordpress\/spring-forward-day-5\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"rss\"<\/a>\"instagram\"<\/a>

Cleveland
\nMarch 17<\/h2>\n

St. Patrick’s Day of the Dead<\/h4>\n

St. Patrick\u2019s Day, a big deal here in Catholic Cleveland.\u00a0 Growing up in Texas, the only affect this holiday had on me is that everyone was supposed to wear something green or risk getting random pinches.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t until I lived in New York in the 80s that I understood what St. Pat\u2019s really was: \u00a0An excuse for hordes of drunk assholes to obnoxiously roam the streets all day.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Yay<\/a>
Yay being drunk at 10 a.m. is fun but don't criticize me I'm Irish sort of it's my heritage and my religion kind of are you going to finish that beer?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\/\/\/<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been thinking about death a lot lately.\u00a0 A dear friend of mine, Ken, died this past New Year\u2019s Eve.\u00a0 He\u2019d been suffering for four years.<\/p>\n

The last time I saw him I should have known it would be<\/em> the last time I would see him, which means I should have said all those Big Things you should say during such a visit.\u00a0 I was a coward and in denial and so remained casual.\u00a0 He died less than 48 hours later.\u00a0 I felt, feel<\/em>, like a real schmuck about that.\u00a0 Ken should have heard me tell him I loved him and appreciated his friendship and all of those other things.<\/p>\n

I may have a chance to do better with another friend.\u00a0 Randy, the guy who owns and runs a website I\u2019ve written for for eleven years, is in an exhausting fight with cancer.\u00a0 He lives in Pittsburgh, which it turns out is just a couple of hours down the turnpike from Cleveland.\u00a0 I called him yesterday and told him I want to come see him next weekend.\u00a0 Hopefully he\u2019ll let me.<\/p>\n

\"See<\/a>
See you soon!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If he does, I need to make sure and say the Big Things this time around.<\/p>\n

\/\/\/<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve never handled the idea of death well.\u00a0 Never.\u00a0 It\u2019s not that I\u2019m particularly afraid of what happens after we die.\u00a0 It\u2019s just that death seems like the ultimate gyp, the ultimate order of \u201cget out of the pool\u201d from the Cosmic Lifeguard.\u00a0 I think life is interesting and fun, and I don\u2019t see why we should have to give it up.<\/p>\n

I wish I could have my father\u2019s equanimity on the subject.\u00a0 He always says, \u201cI\u2019m so lucky I had the opportunity to be a point of consciousness in the universe.\u201d\u00a0 I applaud his attitude but have yet to achieve his peace.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve always thought I\u2019ve been relatively sheltered by death.\u00a0 I\u2019ve never lost a sibling, or a parent.\u00a0 I lost far fewer friends to HIV than many people I know.\u00a0 Maybe I suck at death because I haven\u2019t had enough practice.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But when I began to take stock of all the dead people I knew, I was surprised at the size of the list:<\/p>\n

Partial List of My Dead People<\/h5>\n