THE ULTIMATE RESPONSIBILITY

• Published in: The Humanist (Buffalo, N.Y.) Vol. 76; no. 1; p. 38
• Main Author: Tear, T Hamish
• Format: Magazine Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, D.C American Humanist Association 01-01-2016
• Subjects: Humanism; Religion; Glasgow Scotland
• ISSN: 0018-7399; 2163-3576

It was expected that mother, age eighty-eight, would "go" sometime soon. Alzheimer's disease had been killing her through most of her eighties. Father, stalwart and strong as a horse at ninety, had been nursing her almost single-handedly: cooking, cleaning, comforting, caring. That transatlantic call in the middle of the night, like others over the years, could have been about mother falling again, another urgent trip to the hospital, or even her passing. He sobbed because he had let mother down; because this was the end of their long life together; because he would be utterly alone. Back in the US, he researched the American Humanist Association and discovered that the annual conference was coming to Denver -- just a hop from Jackson. He attended, with a view towards becoming a humanist celebrant and starting a local chapter.