Fog in Brisbane.Promised storms did not arrive
Bright sunshine to welcome.So we drove to University of Queensland
Two years ago,my father died and left his only body for research
Each year,the University honors such donors by invitation
Professor Wally Wood started small-but now 89 people
last year gave their only holy body for research
We are among hundreds of relatives and friends of such-
the Governor General of Queensland among Vice Chancellors
and dignitaries of all shapes and persuasions
join Imans and rabbis and christian ministers in expressing gratitude
for those who left their body behind them for science
needs such physical evidence to learn to heal and cure..
A choir strikes up songs of joy.Wally is 75 ,still full of joy and love.
He speaks of the necessity of adaptation,change,and scientific research
with an abundance of gratitudes directed towards those present who shared
belief in something other than themselves.We listen,then pick up flowers
and handwritten notes of thanks written by present day students of anatomy
My father was honored by name in the Book of Remembrance
I have already given my only body (posthumously)to science
This remembrance/gratitude ritual was/is worthy of his life
We drive away from Queensland University,bonded by generosity of spirit
And the notion that our bodies serve useful purposes
both now and in these lives beyond our tiny span of time
TOGETHER on May 6,2010
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