WE SHOULD NEVER FORGET

James Manning 1910-1984

Today, 36 years ago, my father-in-law passed on to a better place, one of serenity and a final peace we all seek to achieve someday. So, on this occasion, I decided to visit his grave to get a physical sense of the man. It makes me feel closer to those that pass to visit the site and final resting place where they lay.

To me, it is important to do this because I feel that we can't live our lives without the reminders of those who carried us in their hearts and gave us meaning. We live our lives and don't always think or remember those we love even in their absence. We are locked into a never endless movement of our daily lives, without rest or peace. To not visit him would be to bury him twice, or anyone I loved who passed.

Jim was a man of peace, a man who fed into one's conscience with what he felt was the right thing to do, and he was always right. His heart was that of a good and decent man, who taught his children what was expected of them, giving them only the best he could do. Much of the gifts he gave to his children he gave at a cost, a deficit to his pocket and his health, always dedicated to his children. There was very little he owned other than his home and his love of family. 

He wasn't a big man, there was no bravado, no strutting or posturing, just a simple decency that prevailed in the air around him. So, why do I miss him? I guess it has to do with the dowry he gave me when I married his daughter, it was a lot, and it was his daughter.