Photo of The Day: Dad's Old Lantern Keeps Burning
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- by Mark Stephens on Fri Feb 17, 2012 - Add comment
My buddy Dave has this lantern, a classic liquid fuel lantern you pump with your hand to get the pressure you need. It's not that old, from the early 80s. And as you surely do not doubt, it's got a ding or two from road wear. And road wear is good. Dave's now in his 30s. As we all get older, we get our markings and dings left by the hard work and courage required of living in this world. However, nothing quite sends a shudder through your life as sharply as the hard blow delivered by the sudden death of your dad.
"Every couple trips," Dave says, "Dad's old lantern heads out with us as a reminder of how it all began. RIP Dad, your spirit is with us."
It's not uncommon for Dave to make a post on Facebook and to share cool old pictures — yellowed and faded like an iPhone pic gussied up with an Instagram filter except his are the real deal — of his family camping in a 1970s-era van and riding motorcycles on the beach in Mexico. They look like great times with good ol' dad.
Could there be a more fitting piece of camping gear, one that illuminates the night and makes bearable the darkness left behind by the one and only guy you can call Dad who's abruptly gone?
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