Living in "Why?"

You already know this.

Mostly, silence follows the most agonizing question, “Why?”

Life’s most difficult questions have no answers. There is no answer for cruelty, especially to the less powerful, or animals. Garage doors shouldn’t hang open on the coldest day. Children should not go first.

Still, we gnaw at the edges of the cold abyss of grief, when it descends. Want to know. Why?

Today, family and friends remember creative genius, beloved son, grandson, brother, cousin, revered musician, and friend to people near and wide, including many here in Jackson, Luke Flitner Bell. My nephew. He rode a brilliant comet on guitar strings and a voice that carry on, and at 32 finally rests after a hard-fought battle with severe mental illness.

Jackson Hole and communities across Wyoming have enveloped my family and me in fragments of answers with heartfelt care. To say it fills the hole would not be true.

This, you already know.

To say, it is the beginning of a response to despair, may you also know.

Luke eschewed the spotlight, preferring to write and play close to the ground. To “count smiles.” Thank you, friends, for your unceasing kindness, fertile soil for seeds for tomorrow’s smiles. To live among your fierce hearts and be enveloped by your support and love is what I wish for every single human.

Life is precious. You all are. I hope you already know this, too.

-

Luke Flitner Bell | January 27, 1990 - August 26, 2022

Listen to “Where Ya Been,” from the self-titled album, Luke Bell.