On Death & [Im]Mortality
It’s 11 a.m. and I’m alone in my kitchen on a Sunday morning cleaning and listening to my first-ever concert, the Grateful Dead in Vegas 1994. I was with my dad, stepmom, their friend, and my 13-year-old brother. To say the least, I did not appreciate the significance of the experience! Today I can appreciate that the music is ecstatic and otherworldly but at the time it was just another experience I couldn’t relate to. Death and (im)mortality weigh heavily on my mind. The anniversary of my father-in-law’s death was three days past. It’s been a month since I picked up my step-father early after being unable to complete his final attempt at backpacking the Continental Divide Trail due to early onset Alzheimer’s Disease. The grief and feelings of loss remind me that there is so much to appreciate about my dad now. Listening to this music, it’s all coming back. In 1994 I was 15 and a burgeoning workaholic looking for validation through school and accomplishments bent on saving ...