Credit.Jon Han
My father died, of melanoma, thirty-five years ago on the 30th of March. It was Easter Sunday.
At the hour of his death, Beethovenâs Ninth Symphony was playing on WFLN, in Philly. It had always been his favorite piece of music. I heard church bells ringing from the Presbyterian chapel down the street â St. Johns, in Devon, Pa. I stood there by my fatherâs body, listening, the bells pealing over the muffled music of the symphony.
Years before, when I was in college, my mother used to send me a hyacinth on Easter. I would stumble out of my dormitory room to find the flower sitting on the floor in the hall before making my way to Wesleyanâs Memorial Chapel, sometimes so hung over that standing up straight was itself an Easter miracle. One Sunday, the college chaplain just looked out at us all and said, joyfully, âHe is not here!â
Hudspeth: Remembrance has been on both the national level and locally
Stephen Hudspeth
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Stephen HudspethStaff / Hearst Connecticut Media
Over the last 30 days we’ve passed from violent takeover of our nation’s Capitol to inauguration of our new President to remembrance of the lives of the over 400,000 Americans lost to COVID-19.
That remembrance has been on both the national level and locally here in Wilton with separate services led by the Wilton Clergy Association and the Wilton Quaker Meeting.
Each service was powerful in its own way: The Quakers’ service offered extended quiet time for reflection in silent prayer for those lost to COVID and prayer that these turbulent times that are so challenging and so draining can yet become filled with peace. The Wilton Clergy Association’s service encompassed moving prayers, reflections and singing. It called upon us to have homes that are havens of peace, and in the words of Our Lady of Fatima’s Father Re