***On “Now” Photos- For Robert Fleming, Class Of 1964

Click on the title to link to a YouTube film clip of Iris Dement performing Our Town. Sorry no After You're Gone by her that I could find on that site.

Al Johnson, Class Of 1964, comment:

“’Cause I’ve memorized each line in your face, and not even death can ever erase the story they tell to me”-a line from the folksinger/songwriter Iris DeMent’s hauntingly beautiful song, “After You’re Gone”. (You can Google for the rest of the lyrics. Some of her music is on “YouTube but I could not find this one.)


Well, of course, those lyrics only apply to our male classmates. After all Iris is singing about her gone man. I do not, the age of sexual equality or not, want to extend their application to our sister classmates because I do not need to have every cyber-stone in the universe thrown at me. But those same lyrics do bring me to the purpose for today’s entry. As part of getting a 'feel' for writing about old North I peruse the class profiles (on Classmates) and a number of you have placed your current photos there, although a number of people, including myself, are apparently camera-shy. Some, however, like the Chaisson brothers are not. (By the way, Jim and John, and others as well, what is up with the hats? We are Kennedy-era boys and hats were not part of our uniform.). Or like born again "muscle man" Bill Cadger, the star cross country runner and track man our class, who has previously been mentioned in this space as slender-strided and gracefully-gaited. That photo-readiness forms the basis for my comment

I have to admit that I have been startled by some of the photos. Many of them seem to have been taken by your grandchildren just before their naps. Isn’t the digital age supposed to have made the camera instantly user-friendly? Why all the soft-focus, looking through a fish tank kind of shots. And why does everyone seem to be have been photographed down the far end of some dark corridor or by someone about six miles away? Nobody expects Bachrach-quality photos but something is amiss here.

In contrast, a new arrival on this class site (Classmates), Robert Fleming, has found just the right approach. Initially, Robert placed a recent shot of himself on his profile page. Frankly, the old codger looked like he was wanted in about six states for “kiting” checks, and maybe had done a little “time”. More recently his page has been graced with a stock photo provided by the site, a tastefully-shot, resplendent wide old tree. Automatically I now associate Robert with the tree of life, with oneness with the universe, with solidity, with the root of matter in him, and with bending but not breaking. Wise choice. Now I do not have to suppress a need to dial 911, but rather can think of Robert as one who walks with kings, as a sage for the ages. And nothing can ever erase the story that tells to me.

Artist: Dement Iris
Song: After You're Gone
Album: Infamous Angel Iris Dement Sheet Music

There'll be laughter even after you're gone.
I'll find reasons to face that empty dawn.
'Cause I've memorised each line in your face,
And not even death can ever erase the story they tell to me.

I'll miss you.
Oh, how I'll miss you.
I'll dream of you,
And I'll cry a million tears.
But the sorrow will pass.
And the one thing that will last,
Is the love that you've given to me.

There'll be laughter even after you're gone.
I'll find reasons and I'll face that empty dawn.
'Cause I've memorised each line in your face,
And not even death could ever erase the story they tell to me.