Giants & the rest of us.........

Part & parcel of growing older is coming to grips with your own mortality.....Now, that ain’t a big thing as it comes to everyone sooner or later.......the trick is that a lot of us live as tho’ we want it come sooner when the truth ackshully is the later the better..........still, since it’s something that we mostly have no control over, it’s a moot point.......that said; the older you get, the more attention you pay to the obits.....you sort’a start by looking for friends, y’know, the ones you grew up with, went to school with, basically the people you identify with......I think for many of us, that starts with the ‘big reunion’......y’know, the one where you wear a nametag & thank god for the nametags worn by people who were once very close to you ‘cause sure as God eats little green apples, you ain’t gonna know them now......And one of the shocking things about that first reunion is the list of people who managed to cross over without you being aware of it........& then as reunions come ‘n go, that list gets longer while the list of attendees grows shorter.....
Somewhere along in there is when you began to pay more attention to the ‘obituary’ column. And you notice how many people your own age manage to get themselves listed........& then you notice how many people younger than yourself.....Mortality! Comes to us all & it’s inevitable....whoa! hold the salt!......Somewhere ‘round about there is when you began to pay p’ticlar attention to the celebs of your life; the athletes, the movie stars, the teevee personalities, & the occasional giant. Surprisingly, how few giants inhabit our lives. Rare indeed is the person who actually gets a chance to meet & rub shoulders with a giant. More often, we know them only from their deeds, and then only from a distance.
One of those giants in my life has just passed. I never read all his books or articles; never met him at all but, what I saw of him, what I heard of him, what I knew of the man convinced me that he was a man among men, a giant during my lifetime & the world needs giants.
‘Course, the world needs the rest of us as well...A giant in a world of giants is just us.....Justin Other Smith