Only those are fit to live who have no fear to die. None are fit to die who have shrunk from the Joy of Life. And certainly Marlon suffered from neither of these.
Both Life and Death are parts of the same Great Adventure. Never yet has worthy adventure been carried well through by the man who places his own security first. Pride is the portion only of those who know bitter sorrow or the foreboding of bitter sorrow.
All of us who provide service to our fellows are the Torch Bearers. We run with the torches until we fall, content if we can then pass the torch to our fellow runners. Those torches burn brightest which are borne by those at the forefront; the individualists, the adventurers, the man who makes his own way as he sees his own road. These men are high of soul, both as they live, and as they face their fate, and no less high are the women; the sisters or lovers with torn hearts and shining eyes; girls whose favored men have been suddenly struck down in their golden morning. And no less also are the mothers to whom the tragic word has come that they must henceforth walk on the other side of that terrible Shadow Line fully known only by a parent who has outlived their child.
Marlon was a man who honored me by being my friend. I mourn his passing and I wish him well. May his time on the wheel be short.
PHM |
