If you watch my Facebook Page, you saw my remembrance of John Maier, a fellow Eagle Scout, who died last Monday. I attended his memorial service yesterday with an old friend, Bob Giles. John’s daughter, Liz, a talented artisan, was there along with son John, a philosophy professor at Oxford, and his brilliant Australian wife Rachel. As I spoke to them, I sense what I already suspected: John died of a broken heart, unable to fully reconcile a life without his incredible wife, Candy, who died some years back. John was like me, I think, in that religious faith was not something childlike that swept easily over him. He thought things through carefully and took nothing at face value. Somehow, I think people like John attain and appreciate peace after death in ways far more profound than any of us can imagine. I like to think that as he slipped away, he became aware that he and Candy would soon be together — most likely in some place of perfect peace. RIP old friend.
THRU: An Appalachian Trail Love Story 