Obits: 19 May 2016

I have a confession to make: obituaries fascinate me. One can find amazing stories in the thumbnail sketches of people's lives, and I often find myself humbled while reading them.

A year ago I was struck by the fact that two, okay 67, newsworthy deaths took place on the same day -  those aboard an Egyptian Airliner, and half a world away, Morley Safer. It made me wonder about all the other people who might have died within those same 24 hours, and how little we know of our fellow travelers at this point in time.



Obits: 19 May 2016


Mostly unrecognized, the man
wearing the sports coat patiently waited
his turn in the crowded anteroom.
Occasionally a whispered, "Isn't that Morley
Safer from 60 Minutes?" reached his ears.

But the sixty-six souls from the fated flight
of EgyptAir 804 paid no heed, nor did
a group of war-savaged Syrians,
or those snagged by India's heat wave,
nor numberless others left out of headlines
but now called to account for their lives.

So many compelling stories,
and St. Peter with the only pen in the place.



Marilyn Aschoff Mellor