These pictures were taken in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains at the memorial service for Connor Yates, a young man I graduated with. He committed suicide with his best friend, Chad Vignola. I was a bit perplexed to find out about the deaths because as far as i was concerned, they were just average happy-go-lucky assholes like all the rest. Well, i guess not. I was really shaken when i found out - I came to work with the newspaper one morning & just bawled my eyes out in between calls. I wasn't going to attend either of the services based on "Well if I was dead right now, would they be at my funeral? NO.", but I went at my mom's urging. It turned out to be a nice thing. A beautiful day; celebration of life more so than death. It made me think of several things: 1. I wonder how many people will gather to celebrate me when i die. 2. Will Big Pimpin' be played after it's over?
-KT
p.s. I'd really like the song "Big Sam Thompson" by Chris Thile to be played at my death function. It's a beautiful song.