RIP Kurt

Kurt Vonnegut died this week as a result of head injuries suffered in a fall in his NYC home. He was 84.

I was first exposed to Vonnegut by Sister Judith, my evervescent American Lit teacher in tenth grade. Sister Judith is no longer a nun, she married a man she met while doing Prison ministry. She taught with a great passion, and so loved the Vonnegut novel "Slaughterhouse Five", that it opened my eyes to how much humor could diffuse the serious situations we all find ourselves in life. For me, Kurt Vonnegut and Sister Judith are forever intertwined in my psyche. I owe them both a debt of gratitude.

"Welcome aboard, Mr. Pilgrim," said the loudspeaker, "Any questions?"

Billy licked his lips, thought awhile, and inquired at last, "Why me?"

"That is a very earthling question to ask, Mr. Pilgrim. Why you? Why us for that matter? Why anything? Because this moment simply is. Have you ever seen bugs trapped in amber?"

"Yes," said Billy. In fact he had a paperweight in his office which was a blob of polished amber with three lady bugs embedded in it.

"Well here we are Mr. Pilgrim, trapped in the amber of this moment. there is no why."

-- Slaughterhouse Five

"Any man can call time out, but no man can say how long that time out will last."

-- Cat's Cradle