It occurred to me today that I am entering (or have I been here for awhile?) the obituary stage of life. You read the stories about people who have been meaningful to you as their deaths are honored or at least mentioned. Some are younger. Most are around my age.
The lame joke, of course, is that you look for your own name and if you don’t find it, you know you are alive for another day.
Today’s obit was of Ram Dass. Born Richard Alpert to a middle class jewish family, he took the LSD trip in the 60’s, became a spiritual guru, wrote “Be Here Now” and, in general, was a major cultural player in a far different time.
I was drawn to Ram Dass as was my best friend Marsha. We were struggling when suicide and divorce shattered our lives as young women and mothers. Did the “spiritual guru” stuff help? Hard to say for sure. I know I’m glad for his presence as I think about him now.
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