The Story Behind Passing the Torch

May 16, 2020

Back in 2018, I started going to the local literary center in Rochester, Writers and Books. When you go in the front door and turn right, you’ll see the front desk. Throughout 2018 and 2019, I spent my Saturday mornings there, and at that desk, a woman named Mardy would be sitting there.

Mardy was one of those who had life pretty well figured out. She’d run past you on her way through life, and if you were lucky, she’d call back “keep up!”

One Saturday morning in August of 2019 while I was at W&B, waiting for a class, Mardy called to me.

“Ian, I need to go make some copies. You’re in charge.”

So for a few minutes, I was deputized. Those to whom I’ve told this story that knew her were not surprised. She was always a little silly, and completely happy.

Jump ahead to October, and she wasn’t there. I asked, and found out that she wasn’t feeling well. Beyond that, I knew nothing. I figured people get sick, and it’d been long enough after losing two family members so close together that I wasn’t worried.

Besides, I saw her again in November, at the Holiday Bazaar. We talked for a moment, and she asked if I was keeping an eye on things for her. I smiled and said I was. After all, she’d deputized me.

Jump ahead to February 1st, 2020. I’d been thinking recently at that point that it’d be nice to run into Mardy again, happen upon her working the desk. We could’ve talked for a while. Her cheerful demeanor, mixed with a healthy dose of sarcasm, was always a welcomed addition to my day.

I found out that day that not only was Mardy sick, but she’d been given days to live. One day, actually. She passed away February 2nd, 2020. I got the text that morning.

Her funeral was the following week. I didn’t know until I got to W&B. My day cleared up, I ran home after my class, changed, and went out to the funeral. It finally sank in that she was gone when I got there.

I wrote Passing the Torch from those moments I shared with her. The most precious moments we have of someone are the memories we shared with them that no one else knew. It’s our small piece of them that they gave only to us. Those moments, that torch, are mine from Mardy.

#StoryBehind