Wednesday February 1, 2023; 7:21 AM EST
- Some people tell the events of history as witnesses, and their stories are invaluable, often fine-grained and resonant, testifying to the extremes of our human character. In time, these witnesses grow old and leave us. A new kind of witness remains, if we would consider them this way. These are people who heard the stories that the first-hand witnesses told. These younger people can often recall many of the details and even some of the exact words of those stories. And it was in those exact words that those elders tried to name the meaning of life as they knew it. The ones who heard them tell their stories possess a portion of that witness, that elemental ore, in their own memory, and they too should tell the stories before they also grow old and leave. A witness who operates at second-hand like that knows something vital too. We should not wait. When a coin has passed from hand to hand for several generations, the details are eventually rubbed away.#