Thomas Daschle: “I begin our remembrance of Paul Wellstone with the recognition that at times such as this it is more important to…”

“I begin our remembrance of Paul Wellstone with the recognition that at times such as this it is more important to celebrate a life than to mourn a death. We mourn the loss of Paul Wellstone, his wife Sheila, their daughter Marcia, the staff, and the pilots who lost their lives. It has been a shock from which we have not yet fully recovered. Sometimes in these difficult moments, I turn to the Bible, sometimes I turn to expressions offered to me by others, and sometimes to poetry. An old Irish text was found in a Carmelite monastery in Tallow County, Wicklow, Ireland. The text was entitled 'Togetherness.' I find solace in the words of Togetherness. Death is nothing at all-- I have only slipped away into the next room. Whatever we were to each other, that we are still. Call me by my old familiar name, speak to me in the easy way which we always used. Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes we enjoyed together. Play, smile, think of me, pray for me. Let my name be the household word it always was. Let it be spoken without effort. Life means all that it ever meant. It is the same as it always was: There is an absolute unbroken continuity. Why would I be out of your mind because I am out of your sight?”