There’s a nameless disorientation I’d never imagined in the death of family . . . my sister Johneen, my father, Pat, my mother, Barbara, and then finally my dear brother Tom.

With such entirety, origin itself floats away untethered, lost.

As a Christian betting decisively on the hope of our Lord Jesus, death has lost its final sting. But until then, such sorrow. Yet even that sorrow somehow honors, rather than dissolves, good hope. In place of death as a blithe natural Circle of Life, there’s an acknowledgement of horror, a repulsion of the Fall.

And through tears, there’s a longing for all that’s one day right again . . . together.

This piece pulls in so many references. Influences like Gilbert O’Sullivan’s title, Elton John’s "Rocket Man", David Bowie’s Major Tom and Evard Munch’s "The Scream". And I found myself pulled to George Winston’s "Longing/Love" while finishing up the final touches.