A very long life, well lived, but still too short for us

One of my very favorite people passed away early yesterday afternoon.  He was in his ninety-eighth year.

George Bennion was — is — a true original.  Bluntly honest.  Tough but kind.  Cynically believing.  Funny.  Opinionated.  Widely read and always interesting.  Without a trace of pretense or fakery.  A wonderful writer.  Owner of a refreshingly spare prose.  A marvelous conversationalist.  A college literature teacher, a skilled craftsman, a hardworking construction worker, a fan of the ancient Greeks.  Slave to no mere stale conventions.

Many years ago, he and his wife Joy invited me and my wife to attend a meeting of a book discussion group (the Gadianton Polysophical Marching and Chowder Society, as it’s officially titled but rarely actually called) to which they belonged.  They didn’t invite us the next month, though, so we figured that maybe we hadn’t passed muster.  But then, the following month, we were invited to join the group, and it has been a regular and important part of our lives ever since.  We’ve enjoyed many hours of interesting discussion with very interesting people, some of them quite well-known in the Mormon academic community.  And, very often, we rode with George and Joy to and from these gatherings.

The last one we attended was actually at their home, which is not far from our own.  The book that they had chosen was Fredrik Backman’s novel A Man Called Ove.  George was in his usual good form, insightful, passionate about ideas and about justice, with strong opinions.  With a twinkle in his eye, though, he told us while sitting on the stairs in their living room that his cardiologist had recently informed him, effectively, that he no longer merited medical attention.  It was, I think, his way of telling us that he was about to leave.

We didn’t want to understand it that way.

But he was right.

As a member of our reading group put it, “Heaven is a better place this afternoon!”

Karen Lynn Davidson’s hymn lyrics come very naturally to mind:

1. Each life that touches ours for good
   Reflects thine own great mercy, Lord;
   Thou sendest blessings from above
   Thru words and deeds of those who love.
2. What greater gift dost thou bestow,
   What greater goodness can we know
   Than Christlike friends, whose gentle ways
   Strengthen our faith, enrich our days.
3. When such a friend from us departs,
   We hold forever in our hearts
   A sweet and hallowed memory,
   Bringing us nearer, Lord, to thee.
4. For worthy friends whose lives proclaim
   Devotion to the Savior’s name,
   Who bless our days with peace and love,
   We praise thy goodness, Lord, above.