My Father’s Passing

mike — Wed, 04 May 2011 16:36:07 +0000

In the early morning hours of April 27, 2011, my father quietly passed away at home. He was diagnosed with colorectal cancer five years ago, and while he bravely and humbly fought the Cancer, in the end it was too much for his body to handle. Here’s the eulogy I delivered at his funeral:

I had a lot of things I wanted to say about my dad, but yesterday most of you said them for me. During one of his surgeries I told him he was my hero, but he sloughed it off like he didn’t deserve it. He was nothing if not humble, but that’s one of the many traits that made him so great. He always thought he could do better, to be better. He would tell me, “Your mother, she’s the great one. She’s a saint. She made me a better person.” I don’t doubt that one bit, but you can’t make a masterpiece from cheap materials. I have been blessed with the greatest parents I can imagine. I am in awe of who they are and of the lives they have touched, and I am honored to be their son.

The official obituary ran in the Thursday, April 28, 2011, issue of The Wooster Daily Record. Online tributes to my dad can be read at the website for Roberts Funeral Home.

“When you can’t run anymore you crawl.
And when you can’t crawl anymore, well,
you find someone to carry you.”
- Capt. Malcolm Reynolds

Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.

mike — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 04:02:50 +0000

That’s my version, at least. I think there are at least 17 other versions of John 8:7, so so who can say which translation is correct. Assuming Joshua bar-Joseph of Nazareth actually lived and actually said all those things. We will never know for sure, but I don’t think that diminishes the nuggets of wisdom in the New Testament or the Torah or the Koran…ad infinitum. There are good bits. Pieces of good advice and honorable living. But there are some ugly parts. Plenty of ugly parts. And inconsistencies. But each sacred text has enough “good” in them for one to lead a good and honorable life.

But just so you know, I’m a borderline Atheist Agnostic. I believe that there are no gods, but I also realize that I have no proof of my belief. Just as there is no proof that there is or ever was a God or Allah or Buddha or Thor or Zeus or…

But I’m not without belief. I don’t believe in a higher power, but I do believe in myself. And I believe in my wife. And I believe in the Declaration of Independence. And I believe in the potential of humanity. But that’s a discussion for another time.

Civility is Not Dead

My Father’s Passing

Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.