A Tragedy

March 5, 2024 by Donna from One Beautiful Thing 28 Comments

I am a bit shaken. Over the weekend, someone we knew from Fire Island was struck and killed coming home from her DJing job, leaving her wife, family, and friends in total shock. We weren’t close, but she was an iconic presence in our little beach town, and I know many people who were very tight with her. It’s a terrible loss for our community, but what’s really knocked me off my axis is the reminder that one of us could just not come home some day. No warning, no goodbye, no preparation. We make our plans and our calendars fill up. We get busy and put off things like making visits and returning calls, thinking “I’ll get to it tomorrow.” Then there is no tomorrow. It seems wildly unfair and completely unfathomable.

Beloved and I were both similarly affected by Stacy’s passing, as I suspect were many other couples as well. We have found ourselves holding on just a little bit tighter, being just a little bit more patient, being a little more present. I can’t stop thinking about Stacey’s poor wife, and I don’t know about Beloved, but my dreams have been just awful. When I heard the song below yesterday, No One Gets Out Alive by Maggie Rose, I knew I had to share. It seems just right.

Buy the house visit Rome
Wear the dress
That stops the show
Don’t you know
No one gets out alive

So stay a while here on the swing
Let’s pretend we’ll always be together
‘Cause there’s no way that we could know
When we’ll go where all things go forever
I’m gonna hope for better

Watch the sky
From a hill
Do what you can
To make time stand still
‘Cause you know
No one gets out alive

So bring the wine and celebrate
Let’s pretend that we’ll always be together
There’s no way that we could know
When we’ll go where all things go forever
I’m gonna hope for better

Hold your friends
Forgive the night
Die to love
And live your life
Don’t you know
No one gets out alive
– No One Gets Out Alive by Maggie Rose