When I was a freshman in high school, I began to volunteer at a senior center. During the school years, I would work only on Fridays, but during the summer I would work there every day. Through my experience there, I was able to meet a lovely, high-spirited senior named Lorraine. She would always greet me in the morning and wave goodbye to me when my shift was over. We would actively talk together and she would share her photo collection of puppies. I assisted her on her walks around the neighborhood and even introduced her to my dog. Lorraine treated me like her granddaughter and I began to see her as my other grandmother. The last time I saw her was the day before I left for my first day of college. I promised to keep in contact and visit her during the summer. That summer soon arrived and I was excited to see Lorraine her again. I had so many stories to tell her and an abundant amount of pictures of my new nephew to show her. However, once I arrived at the senior center, I had learned that Lorraine had passed away while I was in college.
These past memories of her flooded back to me when I finished reading the last stanza of Percival Everett’s poem, “Logic”. In the poem, there is the line, “[m]en gone, but not seven. Seven men lost, but not seven.”, which could be interpreted as: while the men are physically gone what they represented will continue to exist. Although Lorraine is no longer physically here on this earth, my memories of her and the moments I shared with her will continue to live on. Lorraine will live on through the memories of the people she met and the lives she changed for the better. Since, in the end, “all men will die but not seven”, the memories our loved ones leave behind will live on. Either through stories, pictures, or possessions left behind, that is how they should be remembered.
Through this experience, I learned that all things must come to an end eventually, but that doesn’t mean that they will be gone forever. Lorraine’s life story and the life story of the seven men in the poem are handed down to the people they have interacted with throughout their life. Even though I have my regrets over not being able to say goodbye to her, I know that isn’t how Lorraine would want me or her loved ones to remember her by. While I could reminisce and tell the world about all the regrets that have consumed me for not doing more when she was alive, that wouldn’t be respecting my memories of her. The best thing I can do is to tell the world about the life of Lorraine and who she was.