thirty-nine
39. (10/23/2009)
The eulogy for Charles T. Bloom
[Billy O’Donnell takes the podium.
The crowd at the funeral quiets down a bit.
Billy has always had an incredible knack for words.
Funny, and passionate, Billy can easily make someone think,
even while making them laugh, or experience another emotion.]
billy
…
We live in a frictionless universe.
Friction is a myth.
There is nothing to stop us from going on
And on
And on
And on
Forever. Like sliding on ice.
There is no heat, or thermal energy, as once expected.
There is electrical energy, there is no mechanical or chemical energy.
In actuality, there is only one form of energy in the world.
Potential energy.
The child born holds incredible potential. He could be anything.
He is potential.
Potential in a roundish, gooey mass.
Charles, was a man who capitalized on this potential, and transferred it into kinetic energy. Into heat.
You see, I’m… I’m not a physicist, nor am I religious, sorry rabbi, but I do believe in things.
And for a long time…I believed in Chuck. I believed that everything he said, every word that came out of his mouth was true, and earnest, and fact, and held so much of the world in it.
For a long time, when we were friends in college, he could talk to anyone. He could say anything, and our professors always said things that made me jealous, like “Charley, you are such an old soul,” or “Chuck, you’re wise beyond your years.” And when we left, and I ended up putzing around for some time, doing nothing, living in my parents basement an smoking weed, chuck was out there doing something. Making a difference.
And I hated him for it.
…
I’m sorry charles.
…
a man like charles.
He’s gotta lot of names.
Has to.
Charles isn’t enough.
It never is.
…
not for someone like him.
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