#we remember

On this night, 24 years ago, 2,977 people went to bed for the last time.

They kissed their children goodnight, cuddled with their loved ones & woke the next day, just as any other.

Some boarded a plane to travel or work. Some went to the FireHouse for another routine shift, others made it their office right on time, drinking their coffee & talking with coworkers & friends.

They were gone in a moment. A testament to how very short life is.

Live it well. We only get one.

Goodnight. ✌️

On September 1904, Ms. Jennie Hall, an 8th grade teacher, published in the journal, The Elementary School Teacher, the creation process of an Arthurian play she and her students did. Hall (1904) explained that for nine months, her students read different Arthurian books written by authors like Malory, Tennyson, Pyle, Frost, among others. Moreover, two months were spent in the class training themselves in literary composition in order to write the play. According to Hall (1904), the school was used to doing constant plays, so the students had enough experience to know how things went on the theatre. The result of all these things ended in the writing of a one-act play titled “Lionel of Orkney.”

In the play, the students mix up and adapt the events that occur in Malory’s The Book of Gareth, as well as use a wee bit of Tennyson’s poem, “Gareth and Lynnete”. Interestingly, the 8th graders proceed to throw Sir Gareth out the window and substitute him for Sir Lionel, Sir Lancelot’s cousin, instead (Hall, 1904).

In the plot of the play, Lionel is the son of King Bors and Queen Bellicent of Orkney; and he’s been working as a nameless kitchen boy for a year (after swearing to do so to his mother). Lionel’s ally is Sir Geraint (who takes the place of Sir Lancelot), who defends him from Sir Kay. Subsequently, a young lady, who’s been wandering the lands of Charlemagne and the Holy Land comes to King Arthur’s court, asking for a knight to help her liberate her sister from three wicked knights. By the end of the play, Lionel is knighted just so he can embark on the adventure (Hall, 1904)

The most remarkable thing about this play is that it is familiar, yet at the same time very much so different. The 8th grade students after reading Arthurian literature made the plot of the play their own by changing things and adapting it to their liking. This short play is a very interesting piece of Arthurian literature from the early 20th century.

So, thank you, Miss Jennie Hall and her 8th grade class for this lovely short Arthurian play. We remember you all 122 years into the future.

References

And then they were gone.

It was most probably Scramm's idea since it was him who approached them. He knew for quite a while that his demise was close, and he didn't want to be alone in death but instead go as peacefully as possible. And both him and Mike got to have a choice on that at least - choosing to die peacefully, side by side, as friends. As painful as it was, they were extremely brave and wise in my eyes by making that choice. But what was also breaking my heart... was Joe; the fact that he was left alone. And nowadays, I can't even remember how he died.