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