The Memorial
·Matt Sisernos
One day they’ll drive miles to see you...
Gas tanks full...
Cars lined up...
Traffic backed up outside a quiet little building, where your name is printed on a piece of paper, next to the word
MEMORIAL...
People will stand there in black clothes,
talking about how much you meant to them...
They’ll say things like, I wish I would’ve spent more time with him.
"He had so much potential."
“I always believed in him.”
“He had such a good heart.”
But the truth is…
Some of those same people
wouldn’t even get in the car to come see you
when you were alive, when you were fighting demons nobody else could see...
When you were trying...
I mean REALLY fricking trying,
to change the direction of your life.
But.....Back then…
The drive was too far...
The timing wasn’t right...
Life was too f**king busy...
Drinking was a bigger priority...
Hangovers got in the way....
But the funny thing about funerals...
Suddenly the distance doesn’t matter anymore...
People will drive all day long to stand beside a f**king wooden box, but couldn’t drive 60 minutes to sit with you beside your pain...
They’ll bring flowers
but they never brought presence.
They’ll bring sympathy
but they never brought patience...
I’m saying it because it’s the truth...
most people are too uncomfortable
to say this out loud...
Because love is easy
when someone can’t ask anything from you anymore...
Love is easy
when the story is already finished...
But real love?
Real love shows up when the life is messy...
When the person is struggling...
When the reputation is broken...
When the world has already decided
who they think that person is...
THAT'S when it counts...
THAT'S when the drive matters.
So if someone in your life is still breathing…
Don’t wait for the funeral...
Don’t wait for the speech...
Don’t wait until their story becomes something people talk about in past tense...
Get in the car now...
Drive the miles now...
Because the greatest tragedy in life
isn’t that people die...
It’s that sometimes the love they deserved
only shows up when it’s already too late...
~~~~
I read this poem by Matt and knew I wanted to share it, but didn't know how, or if, I could bring music to the subject covered... Matt's words of emotion and despair say so very much... But words never mean just what one person writes, do they? Each of us adds thoughts, memories, and our own emotional responses to each and every word spoken. Matt writes of the rawness he has experienced in his book and yet, from his words said afterward, there is still much he wants to say...
And that he wants others to hear... Because when he was retained without any freedom, he experienced so much that many of us never had known... Until now... His words speak of fear, anger, and loss of a freedom that came to mean much more than ever imagined...
When I saw that Matt lives in Minnesota, it automatically took my mind to those there--and in so many other locations across our world--where War--violence--Hatred continues to haunt us in so many ways, during the period since 2015 when a man who has only one goal, for himself, spoke lies and even taught people how to hate purely on the basis of political party, race, religion or some other difference than he, himself was...
But Matt found during this same period, a Friend like no other. And he speaks of Love, now, and is not afraid to speak truth about our failure to Love as His friend, Jesus Loves... I hope that what I've been able to find in his words, also find some touch to your mind as well... Better yet, let his words speak God's Truth and Love to each who read this. And learn to pass on that Love to others... Many of us find fear in losing freedom with the United States. While I know it won't really happen, the devastation that has already been caused has been a major setback to all of us. One from which we may never be able to totally recover.
As Minnesota has already shown us, when we come together as neighbors, with love and concern for all, we can move against those who have attempted to break our spirit--the spirit of freedom. The Spirit that God, our Creator, has placed in each of our hearts... And Minds! For when one or two are gathered together...
God Bless
Gabby
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