Today is Ben Bradley’s birthday.
‘All you need in the world is love and laughter. That’s all anybody needs. To have love in one hand and laughter in the other.’ – August Wilson, “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone”
Today we celebrate love and laughter and a life well-lived.
None of us will know which day will be our last.
Because of that, when that day comes, all that matters is the people we’ve touched. The human beings we love. And the ones who love us. The rest of life is just “stuff”. The stuff of life is loving other people. Being loved. And loving others. That’s all there is. There is nothing else.
The character of Bynum says in August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone:
“When you look at a fellow, if you taught yourself to look for it, you can see his song written on him. Tell you what kind of man he is in the world. Everybody has to find his own song.”
Bynum’s song was a Binding Song. Bynum says, “I take the power of my song and bind folks together”
Ben had a song. It, too, was a Binding Song. Sung loud in his passion and deep in his laughter. A Binding Song. The power of Ben’s Song drew people to him, bound them to him. And Ben had the gift to see the song written on other people.
Bertha says in Joe Turner:
‘All you need in the world is love and laughter. That’s all anybody needs. To have love in one hand and laughter in the other.’
That was Ben. Passionate. Proud. Singing his Binding Song. With love in one hand and laughter in the other.
Darling Ben. Missing you now. Loving you always…
Terri
Thank you so very much it was a lovely tribute to Ben’s Memory. Although he is gone he will never be forgotton. I will cherish his memory forever. Today would have been his sixty second birthday, we went to the cemetery and put roses on his grave as we have done since his death.
Sincerely,
Annie Hill -Ben’s Mother