The Gift We Cannot Keep

We open our hearts in this season of giving to all of the goodness the world has to offer. So to have someone close to us taken away so abruptly, without warning, just as we are reaching out to embrace the affirming traditions of Christmas, seems such a cruel affront to the universal message of hope at this time of year. Yes, life is a gift, but it is not ours to keep.

So it was that the incredible gift of Kim J. Harmon, husband, father, consummate family man, and sports editor of The Newtown Bee, was taken away from a throng of grateful recipients last weekend. And how we howled in anguish. Men like this should live forever. But that’s not the way things work. All of humankind, the good and bad, the beloved and detested, the courageous and craven, is made of the same weak stuff. Even hearts with seeming unlimited capacity for kindness and compassion give out in the end. That is the reality. That is also the basis for all that is miraculous about a human life well lived. It is possible to become a strong force for good in the world despite our inherent weakness.

Many tributes to Kim Harmon appear in this, our annual Christmas edition of The Bee. He touched many lives across generations, and everywhere we went this week, people wanted to talk about him, often haltingly with a catch in the throat. There were many stories to tell, which seems fitting since Kim loved good stories. His great appetite for both reading and writing indulged that love.

Artful storytelling is, in the end, the best way to pass knowledge and wisdom to others, and Kim Harmon had a keen appreciation for the craft that was obvious to regular readers. He understood that a good story, like the gift of life itself, is not ours to keep. It isn’t worth much of anything until it is given away. Ultimately, his life was his greatest story. It is a story none of us should keep to ourselves.