The Last Day I saw Elliot was October 5, 2019. We had just celebrated Alex and Sarah’s Birthdays. It was a good night except for one thing – I picked out a gift for Alex that I thought he would love. He did not, and he was disappointed.
Elliot stayed around late to do laundry. I was about to go to bed but came down to talk to Alex in his room first. I apologized for the big birthday flop. Elliot was in the living room eating potato chips and doing homework. The fall weather was just starting, and Elliot had not brought warm clothing to the dorms. As I was talking with Alex, he came into the bedroom to get clothes out of his drawers. He took his time in the room and listened to Alex and I talk for a while. I hugged Alex after we were done.
He was wearing his gray puffy coat
I looked over at Elliot and said, “I am going to bed. I love you. Have a good week at school.” I stopped and looked at him. “Can I give you a hug?”
“Yes.”
We hugged. He was wearing his gray puffy coat.
“I love you, son.”
“I love you, too.”
That was it. That was our goodbye.
I went upstairs to journal and then turned out the light. The assignment was to write a review of some form of entertainment. That morning I had finished reading, Hemmingway’s The Old Man and the Sea, and this is what I wrote:
The Journal Entry
Why do we strive? That is the question of The Old Man and the Sea.
I was so mad at the conclusion of this book, but then I think it is true: our greatest achievements get eaten by sharks; our struggles turn to skeletal memories. But there is something more. The struggle itself is the purpose. It is the struggle that causes our lives to have meaning. In the struggle is where God meets us.
