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Hello everyone. I need a short passage from one of Bradbury's stories for my father's memorial service. It doesn't have to be about death but something appropriate for the occasion. I have looked online myself but, not knowing the stories like my dad, I did not get far. Please help asap. I need it by tonight if possible. Thank you all. Mary | |||
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My condolences on your father's passing over. I have held my children when they took their first breath, and held my father when he took his last. I am not in any sense a mystic, but in some way that seems to complete a sacred circle. There is a mystery - a miracle - of death. It is different in nature, but no less in magnitude, than the miracle of birth. From the time I was aware of such things both culture and my own spirit told me I wanted to be present when my children were born but nobody ever said that I should try to be there when my parents died, so I pass this thought on to the Forum. I don't know how "short" you want the piece to be. I vaguely recalled a passage from Fahrenheit 451, and I think it's on the 'net here: Everyone must leave something behind when he dies. The quote is:
Another possibility comes from the short story, "The Wilderness", see The Wilderness (short story). It was published in "Golden Apples of the Sun" and "Twice 22" and the 1979 revised edition of "The Martian Chronicles", as well as several collections and anthologies (See ISFDB Database Entry ). Send somebody out to the library or a bookstore to get a copy. It's a story about somebody who has gone on ahead, and those who are left behind. In this case a man has gone ahead to a colony in space, and his wife and family are preparing to join him. On the evening before their departure from earth, the man and wife share a phone conversation. But the communication is disrupted, leaving the words "I love you." drifting off thru space . . . with the hopes that the words will find their way to the recipient. You could probably summarize the situation and setting with a few sentences, then read the paragraph about the severed communication link. Dale | ||||
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If I can make the "attachment" feature work - Here's a scan of the last part of that story. I have a higher resolution copy (MUCH larger file!) if this one isn't legible. There is probably a friend there who can help you edit out an appropriate excerpt, about communion and communication with those who have gone ahead, if you decide to use it.  CCF01142010_00002.jpg (187 Kb, 8 downloads) "The Wilderness" - last pages | ||||
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Mary, I am truly sorry for your loss. I'm sure your father is thanking you from heaven for letting him hear his favorite author's work one last time. My sincerest condolences, Kukai Dale, What marvelous work you've accomplished Dale! I believe you have answered this mourners call, most superb in your reply. Confident, Knowledgeable, and Caring in your endeavor, you set an example for all forum-goers. Many Thanks! "Oh, death!" | ||||
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To Dale and Kukai_Aoki, Thank you for your kind words and, Dale, for all the effort helping someone you do not know. I have people to thank on the other forum as well. 2010 is indeed a year of transformation. Love and peace, Mary | ||||
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You're quite welcome - consider it a cup of cool water offered in another's name. I made it more difficult on myself than it needed to be. When I started my first reply, I looked up all the citations and references without realizing that I'd be able to find an actual copy of "Golden apples of the Sun" as quickly as I did. (Many of my books have wandered off to other homes over the years, and not just the places where my kids now live. Of course, I have a few volumes whose origins I know nothing of.) It took longer to make a legible scan of those pages than to find the book! That yellowed paperback must date to the summer of 1969, when the girl I loved and I would buy collections of (mostly Bradbury) short-stories, read them, talk about them when we were together (between . . . ummmm . . . other things), then trade books until we were together again. Mary, thank YOU for the great memories! Patty Blackney . . . if you should happen to see this . . . I hope you're well and happy and wish I could hear from you. Dale | ||||
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Mary, condolences on the passing of your father. Dale, I happened to be there when my father passed away but it was simply meant to be. We had half an hour's warning at most. You don't mention how old your father lived to be. There is a passage I want read at my funeral, but only if I live to be at least 80, as it's only appropriate for an old person. For a copy, go to Amazon.com, look up the hardcover edition of Dandelion Wine, and the passage can be found on page 201. | ||||
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My dad was a couple months short of 70 when he was taken by pancreatic cancer in 1991 - not especially old for his generation. Ummm . . is it even possible to make Amazon show you a particular page from a book? All I can get are the covers and first 2 pages. Dale | ||||
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Sometimes you can type in the page number, but if that doesn't work, search the text for a word you know is used in that passage which doesn't turn up too often in the rest of the book. In this case I used the word "aisle." | ||||
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I didn't have much luck with Amazon, but is your passage: (You can find it in Google Books, and a couple other places.) Dale | ||||
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It works. Type in 201. "Live Forever!" | ||||
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Mog the Dog here. Yesterday, I just gave my yellow-paged 1969 copy of Dandelion Wine to a friend whose father turned 90 on Wednesday, had a stroke the same day, and may already be gone by now. I bookmarked the chapter about Doug's 90-year-old great grandma's final hours of life, and I told my friend that Bradbury's words may or may not speak to him but that he should give them the opportunity to. And today I log in to the RB forum and there you all are talking about this very passage in regards to a similar situation. Synchronicity strikes again! MTD "I was not born, but instead created. I’m not alive, and yet I exist. I will never die, but some day I will be forgotten, as was the light by which I came into this world." MTD | ||||
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"The Leave Taking" was the first my thoughts went to as well. I read it over, but since the post was for her dad's "remembrance," I called upon the poem as my offer to Mary. Yet another "RB-synchronicity" perhaps. It's everywhere, you know!? | ||||
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Thanks for posting the passage, Dale, and great about the synchronicity! | ||||
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To All those who responded to NEED HELP ASAP and gave me all the suggestions and support. The memorial service for my father was held on Sat. Jan. 15th. As it was a Roman Catholic mass and rosary and, mainly, as I needed to consider the people present, I choose simply. You may guess I would have rather "rocked the house" but it was not about me! I am in theatre so read Kent and Albany's last lines from King Lear: "I have a journey sir, shortly to go. . . " to the end. Then I chose the short paragraph form Farenheit 451: " Everyone must leave something behind. . . ny grandfather said. . . ". It spoke of the need to leave something of you in what you do or "touch". and here is where I get to brag on him a little. My father was an engineer and worked for the Corp. of Engineers from 1939 and to his retirement in 1978. However, for approx. ten years in that time, he owned a contracting business. If you look up THE GOLD DOME on Bing (hate Google), you will see the Buckminister Fuller geodesic dome in Oklahoma City that is now on the National Register of Historic Places. You can read on the efforts of the city to save it from the bankers and then their eventual triumphant. My father built that dome. Thus the section of F451 on leaving something behind. Some also wondered at my father's age. Wayne passed at 94 1/2 years of age and the cause was a worn out body and the inabilty to swallow or hold on to the oxygen. Great dad of three, grandfather of five and great-grandfather of seven and then eight in August. Thank you all again and now comes the time of day to day healing. I think I'll go get some of dad's Bradbury books and read your suggestions. You just may see me back on the forum again one day soon with my thoughts. Love, peace and healing to all the earth, especially Haiti, Mary | ||||
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