Requiem for a Crow

Just as we can learn something from just about every life experience, I was reminded of an important lesson today from something I observed on the golf course.

A crow was apparently hit by a golf ball and killed by a player in a group playing behind mine. It couldn’t have been more than a minute or so before it was surrounded by a dozen or so other crows who walked around it ‘talking’ to their fallen comrade. Within another minute the word got out via the crow-grapevine and dozens more arrived to pay their condolences. Then there were hundreds of crows arriving and lending their voices in apparent lamentation. Suddenly they all took perch in nearby trees, facing the direction of the fallen one and became silent for a minute or two and then they departed in silence. For the next 8-10 minutes crows kept arriving from apparently far distant points; we could see them at least a half-mile off coming from all directions.

So, what did I learn or of what was I reminded?

I was reminded once again that all life has value and is noted and valued by many more friends or acquaintances than the departed one probably has any idea. When those (people and pets) I have known and loved have died, the song from our Church Hymnbook “Each Life That Touches Ours for Good” plays in my mind for days afterward: “When such a friend from us departs, We hold forever in our hearts a sweet and hallowed memory, Bringing us nearer, Lord, to thee.”

To keep the life and contributions and qualities of the person alive in our minds and hearts I would suggest not only collecting what photographs we may have of them, but writing about them as soon as possible after their departure and sharing your recollections. Talking about them with others who knew and loved them, you will find, will always be greatly appreciated by those who have a hole in their hearts left by the memory of the departed. A funeral or ‘moment of silence’ is not enough.

I have read and know by personal experience that it is so even with animals—certainly with my own pet dogs and neighbor dogs who have known each other.

Honor and respect the living and the dead.