Yesterday...

Three yours ago this February my dad died after complications of blood clots and multiple strokes. The final three weeks of his life were painful and difficult for him and our entire family. My dad was an unusual guy, who shared some traits with Sheldon on the Big Bang Theory. He was an extraordinarily intelligent man with a love of books, space, science, history, computers, movies, and The Beatles. Boy did he love The Beatles. He would often sit at home with his old records playing them on repeat. While we was on his deathbed, we repeatedly played his favorite Beatles tunes for him to help bring him peace.

​My dad died in Texas, but our family resided in multiple different states and it was difficult to arrange a proper memorial service that all could attend. My dad was cremated. This year we decided to take a trip to honor my dad's memory and spread his ashes in the places he would have most loved.

​Now, getting his ashes flown across continents took some doing. First I had to retrieve his ashes from my mom in Michigan and transport them to Missouri. I had to contact multiple airline carriers and TSA about flight restrictions with cremated remains, make copies of death certificates, and ensure the urn was properly sealed and packed away in my carry-on. I was stopped multiple times in different airports to have my bags searched and tested before we reached our destinations.

​1) Abbey Road & Abbey Road Recording Studios, London, England
​Any fan of The Beatles knows about the iconic Abbey Road image. We flagged down a London black cab driver to take us to the site. The place was busy with tourists walking across the street and posing for photos. We waited our turn and walked the path while spreading his ashes, then on the tree roots and hedges of the neighboring studios.  Afterward, we spoke to a black cab driver who grew up in the area who said he had never heard of that being done before, despite all the people that visit there. My dad might never had been able to visit, but he is forever a part of it now.

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2) Stonehenge, Amesbury, England
​Our next stop was the legendary Stonehenge, much noted for its historical and scientific properties.  We only had a little bit of ashes to spread here to be inconspicuous, but we found a nice patch of grass for my dad to nourish.

3) University of Liverpool, Liverpool, England
​So, you know how I said my dad was a big fan of The Beatles? Well, so much so that he got his Master's Degree from the University of Liverpool through a distance learning program. Liverpool was of course the original home of The Beatles.  In the dark of night on a rainy evening, we found a nice, gardenlike area near a technical innovations building to scatter some ashes. He could finally be in the presence of history and academia that he so loved.
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4) Strawberry Fields, Liverpool, England
You know the song. Maybe you know this was the place of John Lennon's childhood.  At dusk we found the bright red gates to lay my dad's ashes to rest in Strawberry Fields forever. 
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5) Cliffs of Moher, Doolin, County Clare, Republic of Ireland
​For our final memorial destination we flew to Ireland. Just as dawn was breaking on a cold, windy morning we navigated our way to the Cliffs of Moher. In one direction we could see rolling hillsides, and another we could see the crashing waves against the giant, moss covered cliffs.  As luck would have it this freezing morning, no one else was there, giving us complete solitude to gently toss my dad's remaining ashes into the winds and over the cliffs. In case you were wondering, there was no Big Lebowski moment with the ashes. They rolled over the cliffs and sea as we said our final goodbyes with the moon still shining over head. May his memory live forever in the beauty of the sea, air, and trees that surround us.

In Loving Memory of my Dad, George