Taking a seat at the table
Robert Duvall passed away on February 15th His list of acting achievements is nothing short of remarkable from his big screen debut in 1966 as Boo Radley in to Kill a Mockingbird to nailing Lt Col Kilgore in Apocalypse Now. He also played along side John Travolta as "the kirky "Doc" in Phenomenon, one of my favorites. Although fans and movie critics alike would say his appearance as Tom Hagan in the Godfather Parts I & II was among his best work, I'm not going to argue. Duvall rounded out to the already all-star cast and sealed his place in Hollywood history.
Anyone who has been on Twitter knows it's littered with just goofy memes, however every once in awhile pure gold appears on my feed. While scrolling through the countless tributes for Duvall I noticed the above is a scene from The Godfather. The order that the characters left the table is the order the actors passed away in real life, leaving Al Pacino left at the table, he will turn 86 on April 26. In that scene Tom Hagan was once again playing the counselor to Michael. The Godfather movies were on as part as a tribute to Duvall, I studied the scene while thinking of the meme and it triggered a thought I have everytime someone I know, or someone famous passes away.
We all have questions about the afterlife. When Stephen Gold and Tom Miserendino, two friends from high school passed away, I tried to imagine conversation I would have with them over a beer. In between their deaths, we lost Mr. Goodyear, a popular physics teacher at Pascack Valley HS in an auto accident, days before the senior prom. We all wore blue ribbons at the prom as a sign of mourning. As the years passed, I lost more people I loved, my four grandparents, five more high school friends, aa man in town who treated me like an adopted son, and others too numerous to list.
Religions deal with death in different ways,Catholics believe in heaven, Buddhists believe in reincarnation atheists don't believe in any afterlife. People debate this question from The range is endless Stephen Gold was Jewish and of course Jews don't believe in heaven, so I imagined something else. I wish Stephen and I sat down at a table, had a few beers together and just talked. Then when Mr. Goodyear and Tommy passed away a year later, I thought they joining Stephen at the table. As I lost more of my close friends and family I imagined the table growing, the drinks would become a dinner. I can't help it, it's the Italian in me!
The table itself would be mystical everyone at the table would get their favorite meal, drink and of course dessert.
I have used this thought ever since Stephen died. It's what inspired me to write the letter to his parents after he died. It also inspired poetry after Tom died and other people as well. However it wasn't until I saw the picture that I really put it all together .
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