Late this afternoon, we were lured back inside with more food and we spent the night inside---a little toasty, but not much different from outdoors. She was on her way to a funeral for a young man whom she knew from the time he was young. The cathedral was packed, no one passed out from the heat, and they celebrated a short life packed with all of the enthusiasm and courage and love and friendship that those who are much older often shrink from. Josh lived to celebrate his 18th birthday, but he didn't miss a minute of those 18 years. The keeper was proud to say she knew him when he was full of that energy and attitude which sometimes put him in a bit of trouble, but which one day would drive him to push every limit and pour himself out for baseball, family, friends. Life was too short for falsehood, for laziness, for hatred, and self-pity. We all are terminal cases, noted the keeper, and would that the rest of us might live with such focused intensity. We agreed wholeheartedly. She also said she loved all of the eulogies, but the ones given by the mother of his girlfriend and his girlfriend were particularly powerful.
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