A Round of Applause

"It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live." Marcus Aurelius
"The quality, not the longevity, of one's life is what is important." Martin Luther King

On a bright Saturday morning, inconspicuous as any other, we laid our brother to rest. After the final words, prayers and fistfuls of earth, my brother Alex asked everyone to give him a round of applause. Never has a round of applause been so well-deserved.

Dave was not a man--he was a movement. His time on earth was gut-wrenchingly brief, but in its impact on us and everyone he came in contact with it was as vast as the cosmos. Even now I feel his spirit, quietly wafting behind me and up and down the walls of my room. He is with us always, not just as a holographic memory, but as a vibrant, breathing entity.

His death is now only an after-thought, his life is the entire world. His departing lessons were many. His experiences, full with all their tragedies, battles and breakthroughs, are now the stuff of legend.

Generations to come will scrutinize and dissect him like a laboratory frog, picking him apart layer after layer to uncover the good and the grotesque--in short, to uncover his essence. Dave himself was a dissector of humanity; he wouldn’t mind. And besides, his true essence will forever elude us. It left with his last, brutally slow breath. All that’s left for us is guesswork.

But this much is true: he touched, indeed moved, our lives in the profoundest way possible. As a family, he brought us closer. He didn’t make us perfect, but he did force us to face our separation and indifference, however uncomfortable or embarrassing it was. He awakened us from our zombie sleep, rudely splashing water in our faces and demanding us to face one another. He is telling us still, from the grave, Get closer.

His dying example illuminates our paths, shedding light on all the points of caution we encounter. His living example points towards the simple things of life: happiness and family. After that, nothing else matters.

His life, vast as it was, is now only a tiny fragment in the long history of time. His death is a hiccup in eternity. His spirit, however, is a haiku that encompasses all of life, the cosmos, and even God.

If you ask me, I’ll tell you once again: Never has a round of applause been so well-deserved.

I love you, Dave.

I have nothing else to say. My hands will do all the talking.