Transportation Has Undone So Many

I had not thought death had undone so many.
T. S. Eliot ~ from The Wasteland

GRIEVOUSLY UNACCUSTOMED, UNCEREMONIOUS

Notation on the back, in my mother's handwriting:
"Aunt Bessie's & Dick's DeSoto, hit head - on
between Glenrock & Douglas, Wyoming
Both killed instantly ~ August 16, 1956"

from the CDC Childhood Injury Report

"Injuries due to transportation were the leading cause of death for children.
The highest death rates were among occupants of motor vehicles in traffic.
There were also a substantial number of pedestrian and pedal cyclist deaths among children.
Combining all unintentional injury deaths among those between 0 and 19 years, motor vehicle traffic–related deaths were the leading cause.
The leading causes of injury death differed by age group.
For children less than 1 year of age, two–thirds of injury deaths were due to suffocation.
Drowning was the leading cause injury death for those 1 to 4 years of age.
For children 5 to 19 years of age, the most injury deaths were due to being an occupant in a motor vehicle traffic crash."

**********

The sadness of these statistics,
calls to mind the response of novelist
Alice Hoffman, when asked at an interview,
"Yet we don't wish for tragedy, right?"

"We don't have to wish for it! Terrible things happen out of the blue. We become the people that we are because of the tragedies that we experience, but that is not our whole story, just a piece of it."

**********

Lest we forget . . .

Great Grandfather Heidemann
Great - great Uncle Henry Heidemann
Great Uncle Harry
Great Aunt Bessie
Dick
Cousin Gary
Cousin Chase
Uncle Leonard
Jean S.
Scotty M.
Kenny H.
Jeff O.
Clarence F.
Sue S.
Steve H.
Joan E.
Cindy S.
Gail B.
Pete M.
Michele
Lee's cousin Earl
Leslie's son
Earl's nephew
Sherry's boyfriend
Betty (Conductron)
Bob T.
Brooke D.
Somayah
receptionist (ND)
4 students (ND)
2 students (UK)
secretary's 2 children & mother (ND)
Stephen's son George K
Carolyn B.
Marton's advisor
Jeanne's brother
friend of A & S
cousin of J
Terry's brother - in - law
Steve's sister
Christian B.
Evette

. . . and others . . .

RIP

**********

And to conclude,
a couple of In Memoriam tunes from Kansas:

People of the South Wind

There are some who can still remember
All the things that we used to do
But the days of our youth were numbered
And the ones who survive it are few

Oh, I can still see the smiling faces
When the times were so good
Oh in the all familiar places
I'd go back if I could

To the people of the south wind
To the people of the southern wind
To the people of the south wind
To the people of the southern wind

Well it's a hard thing to face the music
But it's somethin' everybody's got to do
So I hope that I can always remember
All the crazy times we had to go through

Now it's a dream that is slowly fading
Oh I don't want it to go
All of the memories are evading
And I want you to know

It's the people of the south wind
It's the people of the southern wind
It's the people of the south wind
It's the people of the southern wind

Now we've traveled all across the oceans
And we've seen what there is to see
But I guess it's not the proper solution
'Cause it's all about the same to me

Now I look back and it makes me wonder
Why we just couldn't see
All of the battles we fought and won there
Oh I wish that I could be

With the people of the south wind
With the people of the southern wind
It's the people of the south wind
You're the people of the southern wind

It's the people of the south wind
It's the people of the southern wind
It's the people of the south wind
You're the people of the southern wind

It's the people of the south wind
You're the people of the southern wind
It's the people of the south wind
You're the people of the southern wind

*********

Dust in the Wind

I close my eyes
Only for a moment and the moment's gone
All my dreams
Pass before my eyes with curiosity
Dust in the wind
All we are is dust in the wind

Same old song
Just a drop of water in an endless sea
All we do
Crumbles to the ground, though we refuse to see
Dust in the wind
All we are is dust in the wind

Now don't hang on
Nothin' lasts forever but the earth and sky
It slips away
And all your money won't another minute buy

Dust in the wind
All we are is dust in the wind
Dust in the wind
Everything is dust in the wind

~ Lyrics to both by Kerry Livgren ~

*********

See also: Handful of Dust, Sunset & Evening Star.
and Descent Into Kansas

Next Fortnightly Post
Monday, June 14

Between now and then, read
THE QUOTIDIAN KIT ~ Descent Into Kansas
my shorter, almost daily blog posts
www.dailykitticarriker.blogspot.com

Looking for a good book? Try
KITTI'S LIST
my running list of recent reading
www.kittislist.blogsppot.com

Sunset and Evening Star

RESURRECTION LITURGY
ACCUSTOMED, CEREMONIOUS

In my Father's house are many mansions:
if it were not so, I would have told you.
I go to prepare a place for you.
And if I go and prepare a place for you,
I will come again, and receive you unto myself;
that where I am, there ye may be also.
~ John 14:2-3 (KJV) ~

My mother Mary (1931 - 2020)
with her father Paul (1895 - 1983) and middle-brother John (1932 - 1983)
~ November 1981 ~

My mother's funeral service is one of the many across the world that was held belatedly this year. For the past decade, Mother's Day has seemed to work better than Thanksgiving or Christmas for our family reunions, even during the year of COVID. Despite the pandemic, we all met up in Southeast Kansas to visit my mom's for Mother’s Day 2020, and she died a month later, on June 15, 2020. So Mothers Day 2021 seemed an obvious choice for the service, especially since it didn’t really seem safe to plan the service any sooner, with all of us traveling from various locations.

Mary Elisabeth Lindsey Carriker
January 21, 1931 — June 15, 2020

Earlier Tributes on blog & facebook

A long-time resident of Caney, Mary was born on January 21, 1931 in Peru, Kansas, to Paul J. and M. Rovilla Heidemann Lindsey. She attended grade school in Peru, high school in Caney (Class of 1948), and college in Bethany, Oklahoma. She worked for Foster Petroleum, Phillips Petroleum, and Continental Can Company for several years before marrying Willard M. Carriker, also of Caney, in 1960.

Willard, Mary, and their six children lived for a year in Mountain Home, Idaho, before settling in Neosho, Missouri (1962 - 1967) and in the St. Louis area (1967 - 1984), where Mary worked in human resources for several companies and Willard worked in quality control for McDonnell Douglas. They returned to Caney for retirement in 1984.

All of her life, Mary loved to read and write and play the piano. Upon returning to Caney, she played for both the Church of the Nazarene and the United Methodist Church. She completed an Associate of Arts degree in 1995 at Coffeyville Community College, volunteered for the high school debate team, and delivered Meals on Wheels.

Aaron wrote: "Mom was an avid arm-chair traveler. She loved to sit and look at maps and reminisce about trips she'd taken or talk about trips she would like to take. Or look at a map and follow along as you told her about a trip you'd taken. She also liked to compare old road maps to new ones, to see how much things had changed over the years. Another of her hobbies was star-gazing. She loved to go out and look at the stars and point out the different stars and constellations."

Mary is survived by her children David (Marion) of Independence, Peggy Rosenbluth, Bruce, Kitti (Gerry McCartney), Diane (Tom Burrows), and Aaron (Pam); nine grandchildren: Hans (Chantel) Carriker, Jerrod (Amanda) Rosenbluth, Daniel Rosenbluth, Anna (Joe) Lesher, Sara Carriker, Ben (Cathleen) McCartney, Sam McCartney, Aaron Burrows, and Jessica Kimbrel; fourteen great - grandchildren, and many loving nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her husband Willard (in 1987) and their infant daughter Hope (in 1964); also her brothers Dwight, John, and Earl; her son - in - law Ron Rosenbluth, and grandson - in - law Dave Kimbrel. Mary's memorial service was held on Monday, May 10, 2021.
Memorial contributions can be made to
The AWOL Humane Society of Independence
P.O. Box 290
Independence, KS 67301
www.independenceks.gov/230/Animal-ControlAWOL-Humane-Society

****************
I know that my redeemer lives,
and that in the end he will stand on the earth.
And after my skin has been destroyed,
yet in my flesh I will see God;
I myself will see him with my own eyes —
I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!
~ Job 19:25-27 (NIV) ~
Music Video Tribute
The Holy City ~ sung by Larry Ford

For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.

When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.

And now abide faith, hope, love, these three;
but the greatest of these is love.
~ 1 Corinthians 13:9-13 (NKJV) ~

****************
I am Resurrection and I am Life, says the Lord.
Whoever has faith in me shall have life, even though he die.
And everyone who has life, and has committed himself to me in
faith, shall not die for ever.

As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives
and that at the last he will stand upon the earth.
After my awaking, he will raise me up;
and in my body I shall see God.
I myself shall see, and my eyes behold him
who is my friend and not a stranger.

For none of us has life in himself,
and none becomes his own master when he dies.
For if we have life, we are alive in the Lord,
and if we die, we die in the Lord.
So, then, whether we live or die,
we are the Lord's possession.

Burial of the Dead: Rite II
Book of Common Prayer (p 491)

****************

Crossing the Bar

Sunset and evening star,
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea,

But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
Turns again home.

Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
When I embark;

For tho' from out our bourne of Time and Place
The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crossed the bar.

By Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809 -1892)

****************
Music Video Tribute
The Lord's Prayer ~ sung by Jim Nabors

It Is Well With My Soul

When peace like a river attendeth my way
When sorrows like sea billows roll
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say
It is well, it is well with my soul

It is well (it is well)
With my soul (with my soul)
It is well, it is well with my soul

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come
Let this blest assurance control
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate
And has shed His own blood for my soul

It is well (it is well)
With my soul (with my soul)
It is well, it is well with my soul

My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought
My sin, not in part, but the whole
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

It is well (it is well)
With my soul (with my soul)
It is well, it is well with my soul

[additional stanza]
But Lord, 'tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!
Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul.

It is well (it is well)
With my soul (with my soul)
It is well, it is well with my soul

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend
Even so, it is well with my soul!

It is well (it is well)
With my soul (with my soul)
It is well, it is well with my soul

lyrics by Horatio Gates Spafford (1828-1888)
music by Philip Bliss (1838 – 1876)

For dust thou art,
and unto dust shalt thou return.
~ Genesis 3:19 (KJV) ~
Next Fortnightly Post
Friday, May 28

Between now and then, read
THE QUOTIDIAN KIT
my shorter, almost daily blog posts
www.dailykitticarriker.blogspot.com

Looking for a good book? Try
KITTI'S LIST
my running list of recent reading
www.kittislist.blogsppot.com