Reflections: Sunday, May 24
Hello Baby! — So Long, Uncle George.
Today I had the chance to meet my newest grandbaby. She was born a few weeks ago, just a smidge under 7 pounds. She’s my eighth grandchild — six girls, two boys. And oh yes, there’s a great-granddaughter as well.
The Lamb Family is growing.
Having said that, I must point out that the Cassaneses (my Mom’s Family) is down by one: My favorite Uncle, George Cassanese, passed away at age 83, just 10 years older than me. He’d been in the Marines. Used to make my cousins and I march around my grandparents’ house. Always smiled. Funny fella. (By the way, he’s the guy who nicknamed me “Dumbo” because he thought my ears were big. Like I said, “funny fella.”)
Birth, followed by death. Joy, followed by sorrow.
Because I believe in an “afterlife,” I expect to see Uncle George again. And my parents and grandparents, too.
Why bring this up? Am I morbid? Or What?
For me, it’s time to think about such things.
Seems like every week an aged rock star, movie star, TV star, or other celebrity dies — all about my age or thereabouts. People you’ve probably never heard of, with names like Fred Willard, Little Richard, B.J. Hogg, Shirley Knight, Brian Dennehy, James Drury, Jay Benedict, Ellis Marsalis — all people who were young when I was young ... now gone.
Take, for example, Ravi Zacharias: March 26, 1946 – May 19, 2020, just a year older than me. (There’s a link to his obituary below, as well as a link to a recent interview.)
Zacharias traveled millions of miles around the world preaching the gospel. One of his specialties was going to college campuses and answering really tough questions about Christianity from students. Now “poof,” he’s gone: Dust to dust; ashes to ashes.
I’ll die one day. Maybe next year. Or the year after that. Maybe five or 10 years down the road. It’s inevitable. “Poof,” I'll be gone. Like a puff of smoke. Like Fred Willard, Little Richard, Shirley Knight, Ellis Marsalis, and Ravi Zacharias.
While I’m still here, I’ll share poems and stories, photos and Bible verses, thoughts and dreams. Some might make you smile. Some might make you sad. Some might make you angry.
After I’m gone, you’ll decide what kind of person I was. Hopefully, some of those thoughts will be pleasant. Like reminiscing about a favorite uncle — or meeting a new baby on a Sunday afternoon.
OBIT:
https://www.rzim.org/read/rzim-updates/ravi-zacharias-obituary
INTERVIEW: