Remembered losses
My level of research is cursory at best. But if you want to be remembered in a small place I suggest that you die, not in your own bed. Go for something that is violent and fast. Things like lost at sea or killed by a falling tree. Again I need to do more research but I was struck today listening to a neighbour talk about an incident where a fishing boat had been lost coming back into the harbor. The point that struck me was not the boat had been lost but that had happened fully 40 years ago and that the details were still remembered. Now why would anyone want to be remembered? No idea. I doubt that I will be other than as a name that someone heard in passing but there are still a lot of people who goes through our lives and who all tend to disappear eventually. Go ahead. Recall your classmates from a lifetime ago. You probably can do a fairly good list and it strikes me that most of them if you reach a certain age are gone. Forever. Still remembered though. No need to wander through the graveyard and fight off the mosquitoes. Just talked to someone else who has reached a certain age they all remember. I think we are hardwired that way. Difficult to write a ballad if you have no names. The characters can’t all be named John and Mary over many have tried. I am in a small community and there has been a sudden loss and even though the newspapers have not yet given us the details you only have to ask around most people already have the story. Fits in well in a world where newspapers are almost a passing trend. To be fair I have not purchased a newspaper in a long time. Maybe things have changed greatly over half a century. But I doubt it. Too many people and not enough time to tell all the stories. So we cherry pick.
