—Stephen Colbert
I’m certain that he didn’t originate the notion,
but I just heard him say it (in that slightly
grammatically incorrect way) on a special
on YouTube, this one by People magazine
about the end of The Late Show this week.
My dad died less than a year after I moved
to San Francisco, where I now happily reside.
He was 58, which is how old I will remain
for around three more weeks, give or take
a day. The way I remember it, the last thing
he said to me was I love you, Del. And he did.
My little brother passed overnight in the cab
of his stationary pickup truck. He was at my
Aunt Patti’s place in Missouri. He was 47,
and it had been less than three years since
I helped him come visit me here in California.
It was the only time all four of us (me and my
siblings) were together at any one of the many
places I’ve lived since leaving home for college
back in 1985, which had been and still is one of
the happiest extended weekends of my entire
life. There were three great-grandparents, two
of whom I got to spend much time with and I
remember each well. And, of course, all four of
my lovely grandparents, each of whom I knew well
and with whom I had the great luxury of spending
countless hours. My maternal grandmother,
Mabel Louise Van Meter, was among them, and
was my chief inspiration for becoming a diarist
and a poet (and who most likely was the inspir
ation for any of those rare qualities I have that
a consensus might judge morally good). There
have been others, like my pal Kim, with whom
I’d stay up talking nonstop, each of us mostly
over the voice of the other, well into the night
so many nights during my first twenty years
on the West Coast. And there was Kevin, who,
of all of the long list of poets’ and artists’ names
and numbers I’d been given by friends in Boston
before moving here to the left coast all those
years ago, was the first to respond to my shy ask
once here, and took me post haste to the Black
Cat in North Beach to hear a couple of poets read,
and who introduced me, I believe, to every one
else who was in attendance. But I swear that the
death that hit me the hardest in my life lived thus
far was that of Sepia the Cat, who was but 13, yet
had been with me for almost all of those years,
moving with me here, first to live on Anza Vista and
then Nob Hill. Having missed almost no day without
her during most of her life, and a significant portion
of mine, I can say that the pain of her passing hit
me harder than I would ever have imagined. It was
stark and it was tangible. So it seems that I have
been one of the lucky ones. And on that notion,
and in general, I would most sincerely concur.
and with whom I had the great luxury of spending
countless hours. My maternal grandmother,
Mabel Louise Van Meter, was among them, and
was my chief inspiration for becoming a diarist
and a poet (and who most likely was the inspir
ation for any of those rare qualities I have that
a consensus might judge morally good). There
have been others, like my pal Kim, with whom
I’d stay up talking nonstop, each of us mostly
over the voice of the other, well into the night
so many nights during my first twenty years
on the West Coast. And there was Kevin, who,
of all of the long list of poets’ and artists’ names
and numbers I’d been given by friends in Boston
before moving here to the left coast all those
years ago, was the first to respond to my shy ask
once here, and took me post haste to the Black
Cat in North Beach to hear a couple of poets read,
and who introduced me, I believe, to every one
else who was in attendance. But I swear that the
death that hit me the hardest in my life lived thus
far was that of Sepia the Cat, who was but 13, yet
had been with me for almost all of those years,
moving with me here, first to live on Anza Vista and
then Nob Hill. Having missed almost no day without
her during most of her life, and a significant portion
of mine, I can say that the pain of her passing hit
me harder than I would ever have imagined. It was
stark and it was tangible. So it seems that I have
been one of the lucky ones. And on that notion,
and in general, I would most sincerely concur.
