Roosevelt Lake, Arizona

Last May,we bought a house.  Like most first-time homeowners, we had our work cut out for us to get the place up and home-ready, so my mom and my step-dad flew out to help.  They worked tirelessly every day of their "vacation" except for one day - the second anniversary of Andy's accident.  On that day, we took a drive up to Roosevelt Lake to escape the heat and spread Andy's ashes at Grapevine Point.  Mom said the lake was one of the most beautiful places that she had ever been.

Roosevelt Lake as seen from Tonto National Monument. (Photo by Justin Gause.)

Roosevelt Lake, eastern shore.  (Photo by Justin Gause.)

I've scattered Andrew's ashes in several places around Arizona now.  I still very much want everyone to spread his ashes all over the world, but there are a lot of really special places in my adopted home state that I really wish that I could have shared with my brother.  Sharing them with friends and family as they visit and then leaving a little bit of Andrew behind seems like the best compromise.

Another poem

A friend shared this with me recently, and I thought that I'd pass it on.

 Dirge Without Music
-by Edna St. Vincent Millay

I am not resigned to the shutting away of loving hearts in the hard ground.
So it is, and so it will be, for so it has been, time out of mind:
Into the darkness they go, the wise and the lovely.
Crowned with lilies and with laurel they go: but I am not resigned.

Lovers and thinkers, into the earth with you.
Be one with the dull, the indiscriminate dust.
A fragment of what you felt, of what you knew,
A formula, a phrase remains - but the best is lost.

The answers quick and keen, the honest look, the laughter, the love,-
They are gone. They are gone to feed the roses. Elegant and curled
Is the blossom. Fragrant is the blossom. I know. But I do not approve.
More precious was the light in your eyes than all the roses in the world.

Down, down, down into the darkness of the grave
Gently they go, the beautiful, the tender, the kind;
Quietly they go, the intelligent, the witty, the brave.
I know. But I do not approve. And I am not resigned.

Japan

Today would have been Andrew's 26th birthday.  Instead of dwelling on the sadness of this day, I'd like to share one of my favorite stories from this project.


Jason Nash is an avid martial artist who has spent some time studying in Japan.  Here is his story (copied here with his permission):

Shugyo - Spreading My Friends Ashes, Climbing Mt. Fuji Barefoot

Keylong, Himachal Pradesh, India

Antoinette ("Toni") Pazak was a long-time friend of Drew's. She took a pretty epic jaunt through India last year; along her travels, she stopped in the Himalayas to remember Andrew and spread his ashes.  She posted these pictures to Facebook:

 

Thanks, Toni.  I know Drew would have loved to hear your stories about the trip.  You couldn't have picked a more beautiful place.