When I see something like this I have to stop and wonder about my short time on this earth. Am I making an impact?
Will I be remembered after I'm gone by more than just friends and family?
Will I have a memorial water fountain?
This is one of the drinking fountains at my work: The Ed Mansfield memorial water fountain. This brings up sooo many questions for me. Who was Ed Mansfield? What did he do to deserve his own fountain? Was there a dedication ceremony?
And most crucially:
Why a drinking fountain?
Did he die of complications related to kidney stones and his dying wish was that no other man should suffer that fate?
Did his widow sue over the lack of water availability and this was part of some kind of settlement?
I remember when I was a kid going to Emerson Elementary they dedicated a bike rack to some boy who had died of cancer or something.
At the time I remember being haunted by the question: why a bike rack?
Did the kid really like bike riding before he was tragically felled by disease?
It's these types of things that make me so restless.
How the heck can I get a good night's sleep when I have the Ed Mansfield memorial water fountain on my mind?
1 comment:
Michael - thanks for the cross-link to my blog. And yes, I've asked myself the same question: Why name THAT THING after someone? It's not like the person invented the water fountain or the bike rack. It's different if you actually invent the thing. I'm still upset that we watch "television" instead of the "Farnsworth Box."
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