Last plane trip this year (I hope)
Logan Terminal E 06:22
You wake up at Seatac, SFO, LAX. You wake up at O'Hare, Dallas-Fort Worth, BWI. Pacific, mountain, central. Lose an hour, gain an hour. This is your life, and it's ending one minute at a time. You wake up at Air Harbor International. If you wake up at a different time, in a different place, could you wake up as a different person?
Narrator, Fight Club
As mentioned before, I took a trip to Boston for FB's memorial service. Often while running to a connection on my business travels, I pass by a gate marked "Boston" and wistfully think, "If I could get on that plane, I'd be at Brehznev's by dinnertime with my friends." Well, this time, I got on that connection to Boston. But to be honest, it would have been nice if this trip wasn't necessary at all.
I was pleasantly surprised by the turnout for the memorial service--the MIT chapel was packed with perhaps ~200 people (standing room only). Folks flew in from all over the country. I had this mental image of a map of the country, and all these animated arrows simultaneously converging on a tiny dot on Comm Ave. I know it is not a big deal in this highly mobile world, but in a sense, it seems logistically amazing that it happened.
At the memorial service, there were readings and stories from family, Teps and other MIT folks, childhood friends, and coworkers. As I have mentioned before, I admired and liked FB, but I didn't know him personally very well. I am glad that I got to hear those stories, at least.
I think all of us have a hint of guilt to say that we enjoyed seeing each other, given the scope of this tragedy. But coming together at a time like this was probably the best way to console each other and celebrate FB's life. I know that I would be terribly disappointed if people didn't have a decent time at my wake--I'd want it to be an awesome big-ass party. Also, as a completely irreverent side note, if people get some 'grief booty' after my wake, I demand a dram of Scotch poured on my grave in compensation.
posted by Bats @ 11:01 PM
6 comments
6 Comments:
Dude. You need a dog.
just don't forget: use soap.
-A
(who was happy to see you in between airports)
That mantra has been running through my head recently. I was planning on another viewing this weekend to see if I was inspired to change my direction in life.
Sorry--this is an unfinished post that I meant to wrap up last night before falling asleep.
Chuck--yeah, you totally 0wnz0r me in terms of air-miles-travelled-per-year nowadays. A re-evaluation does sound like a reasonable thing to do. As long as it doesn't devolve into putting nitroglycerin-filled vans in buildings. [smile]
I looked this up the other day--the chapel seats 190 including the folding chairs, so I think you can safely call it 222 attendees. Which is just as it should be.
222 was what I got when I counted the house.
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