Ruth Barton" <[log in to unmask]>

>Ruth, from VT where we still have  proper viewing, funeral and burial
rites.

Ruth,

We still have those in New Hampshire too . . . as I learned to my sorrow
this weekend.  Our friend and neighbor Michael, went out riding his ATV last
Thursday night with a friend, and they both rode their 4-wheelers through
thin ice into the cold water of Baboosic Lake.  Michael was paralyzed from
the waist down in a construction accident when he was 18, and had no defense
against hypothermia, even though his riding buddy Steve found him and held
him above the water until a neighbor rowed out to find them.

Michael was maddening, reckless, impulsive, and mostly out of control, but
he was also kind, generous, and the kind of person that inspired wonderful
memories of all the times you spent with him -- all the while wanting  to
(and sometimes giving way to the impulse), to smack him upside the head.  He
never backed off and he never slowed down.   He was prone to showing up in
the dooryard at all hours on a sled or a 4-wheeler, expecting to do a couple
of shots, and trying talk you into buying some machine that you could join
him in
defying immobility and death with.   Sometimes we froze our asses on the
porch humoring him, sometimes we jumped on the back and took a ride into
that world of impulse and speed, sometimes we just flipped a coin to see who
would ride with him to make sure he got home without falling off his rig.

We went through the whole weekend with the recovery of the 4-wheelers from
the lake, making casaroles and soup, and gathering up sleeping bags and
bedding for out-of-town family.   I don't have much frame of reference for
the "viewing".  It was very crowded and very emotional.  Most people ended
up standing around outside looking stunned and
uncomfortable, the men in suits and ties, and the women in black
dresses and high heels.

Michael was fond of guns, fireworks, and loud noises.  Inviting him to a
party was more or less a guarantee that the police would show up at some
point to investigate the disturbance.  Mike's girlfriend wanted us to shoot
off a canon at the graveside service, so our friend John brought his along,
all primed and ready to fire, but her parents talked her out of firing it in
the middle of town.  Everyone toasted him at graveside with shots of
Rumpelmintz, his favorite libation.   We did fire the canon later.

Lisa

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