What we leave behind.
The last time I saw Danny was at my son’s graduation. Jake, my son, rode the elevator with him. He was not an English major and had never had Danny for a class but by the time they got off the elevator it was like they had known each other for years. Jake came up to me with Danny in tow, ( I was in a wheelchair after an accident) and said, “hey, do you know this guy?” What a wonderful surprise. I simply cannot believe that those serendipitous types of meetings with him will never occur again. What I remember most were the Halloween parties but I will have to take the 5th on the rest of that. Danny was the founding inspiration for our writer’s group, which was successful enough to boast a real writer and two (count ‘em) editors. I went to his memorial today and wept and laughed with a packed auditorium. I cannot add anything to what those accomplished writers have done as tribute, my words are more like mud than the music they produced, so I will only say, the world is not as bright a place without him. But what I think sums up Danny’s life, what is so obvious from the outpouring of love from him and from those who remain, was said a couple of thousand years ago: “What you leave behind is not what is carved in stone monuments but what is woven into the lives of others.” Pericles.
Carol Ann Curren fka Carol Lubbers