September 24, 2008

Bill Crandall died last week at age 71. I'm told it was a stroke.

Bill Crandall's name won't ring many bells in Oneida County. There are, however, at least a few insurance agents here who knew him. This I know because I saw them standing in a line that stretched to the sidewalk in front of the Frasier-Shepardson Funeral Home on N. Salina Street in Syracuse.

Bill Crandall spent most of his life in the insurance business. "He was well liked and well respected," said Renwick Varone, a retired insurance agent from Jamesville, who was standing in line behind me.

Similar words were used by Dick Presky, farther back in line. Presky sells insurance in Oneida County. Presky added, "You have to enjoy life while you
can."

In other words, life's a journey, not a destination. Live in the moment. Treasure those moments. There's no better time than right now to be happy.

I remember reading this once: "Be happy while you're living because you're going to be dead a long time."

I believe all of the above. Alas, I don't always adhere to my belief. I let things, usually small things, get in the way.

I got to know Bill Crandall this summer. Bill and his wife Char were part of the group I hosted on a two week trip to Alaska and the Yukon. There were 20 of us.

It was wonderful. During those two weeks up north nothing got in the way of the aforementioned philosophy. I'm confident that everybody on that trip enjoyed those Alaska moments, enjoyed the journey. Problems were left behind in the lower 48.

One night in Fairbanks, I spotted Bill and Char sitting together at a table in the hotel bar. Had I not known better I'd have thought they were a couple out on a date.

At the wake, there were pictures of Bill and his family, his life in pictures. I'm glad they had pictures from the Alaska trip on display, including one of our tour group in a railroad car as we came down a mountain pass and into Skagway on the White Pass & Yukon Railway.

At the wake, Char said the trip to Alaska was a dream come true for Bill and that she thanked God her husband got to go.

The trip to Alaska included panning for gold and the operators of the mine make sure everybody gets a few flecks to take home as a souvenir. Char wears her gold flecks in a necklace. She buried Bill with his.

Yep, life's a journey, not a destination, something I have to be reminded of from time to time. And a big part of the happiness on the journey are people you meet along the way.

More than once while standing in line at the Frasier-Shepardson Funeral Home in Syracuse, I thought this: I wish all of us were back in Alaska, happy and enjoying the journey.

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Joe Kelly is the editor and publisher of The Boonville Herald & Adirondack Tourist and THE GRIFF.