I finally watched the movie mentioned in the quote below, "Gangs of New York." It was terrific and granted me a glimpse of history that I had known nothing about. As I get older, these historical perspectives seem to become more and more interesting and important to me.
It was not in this case, however, the historical perspective that stuck with me so much as the scene at the end of the moving, which I have included below. The simulated time-lapse of the Green-wood Cemetary with the skyline of Manhattan in the background.
What struck me was what seems to strike me in the early morning from time to time eleven years after the death of my younger sister, Wendi. The complete and total finality of death. Along with the importance of what the living decides to do to keep the memories of the departed alive. If you watch that scene I've included below you will see what I'm talking about and until I read this piece today from the Daily Beast, I had no idea of the movie's impact. That until this movie was made, this scene shot to complete the important work, William Poole had been forgotten. His burial site washed over by time and progress.
Regardless of your position on whether or not we should celebrate or honor such an evil man, the point is that death and time and the passing of history will wash us all away into the landscape of our lives. But don't let that fact dishearten you. You are here now and you still have time. Time to build and secure your own legacy. At least for awhile...
-John
Not far from Tweed, on a sloping hill, there’s a dollar pinned down by a rock on the gravestone of “Bill the Butcher,” possibly a gift to gangster gods on high. Bill, full name William Poole, was a real life butcher, skilled with knives and raised in the art of street fighting. He finally died in a drawn-out battle with his Irish mobster nemesis, John Morrissey. His grave was previously unmarked, but Poole’s depiction in Martin Scorsese's blockbuster Gangs of New York, brought his brutality back to infamy,
Source: Brooklyn’s Gangster Graveyard
