This site is presented as my memorial to Dorothy, my wife of 47 years. The web address, dorothyann.net, is a reflection of this intent. The price of dying in the culture of humans is steep. We make much of our funeral rituals; actually, we make much of all rituals. We love rituals and systems ... and putting ourselves into categories (check out "Being Things" in the pages listed below). After the "funeral ritual," and a decent interval for the "grieving ritual," we're expected to go into the "closure ritual." Thus the dead are consigned to the purgatory of the occasional "quaint memory category," in which there is little to distinguish one who actually lived from a character we grew to know for awhile in a novel or movie. Dorothy was too vital, too much a part of the world of the real living to be remembered as no more than a character in a story. I don't think anybody deserves that fate (don't miss the "Inner Spirit" page). But Dorothy is the person I knew, the person I loved. So while I'm living and until I'm consigned to the "quaint memory category," I'm not going to accept Dorothy's being treated as if it made no difference that she lived (there was a good line from Man of La Mancha when Cervantes tells of the dying young soldier not wondering why he was to die, but rather why he lived). Thus I've set out on a crusade to keep Dorothy's spirit alive. These pages are dedicated to that yet living spirit (please check out "For Dorothy" and the link to "Dorothy Ann"). Dorothy constantly encouraged me in my writing efforts, and thrilled along with me when I was accepted into the Opinion Shaper program (she especially liked the "Childhood" piece), so it's fitting that this collection of essays be dedicated to her. I should mention the help I received, and am still receiving, on line from GROWW, a grief support network where people accept the fact that the concept of "closure" has little real meaning when dealing with the loss of someone you love.
Gordon Kearns
or go to
An Explanation; Being Things; Childhood; Heroes; The Inner Spirit;
Elves I Have Known
Other Essays at Large: Movie Classics; Class of the Millennium;
My Book Reviews; My Stories
From Dorothy's Corner: For Dorothy
Comments: GKEARNS@prodigy.net