Hi everyone, welcome to thanks for being here, a short weekly pod to remind us of the many essential

and beautiful ways we affect one another. Every Sunday I'll read a submission from a listener

of Kelly Corrigan Wonders, could be wedding vows or about

mitzvah toast, a eulogy or retirement speech.

We believe this is probably the loveliest way to tap into our better selves and remember our highest values.

We encourage you to share this podcast each week with one person you love, maybe someone

you miss and need to bring closer,

someone you want to feel your appreciation or admiration or both.

This is thanks for being here is probably the most profoundly beautiful and heartbreaking.

Thanks for being here we have ever shared.

We were so moved by the story and the writing that we asked the author of this

eulogy to read it himself. So this is Duncan Keegan memorializing his son Rory, recorded in Dublin, Ireland for the

Kelly Corrigan Wonder's Audience.

Duncan, thank you for being here.

We love you.

Almost every night of his life I was the one who put Rory to bed. It was my

favorite part of every day. Before he'd learn to talk, it was sitting in the big

yellow armchair in his room, reading a few board books, and settling him down and

keeping him company. Often I'd lie on the floor and just listen to him,

listen to his breathing, becoming deeper and slower. As he got older, the books changed, the stories became more elaborate.

That simple routine, that special moment between me and him remain the same. Except that, once I'd closed the pages at the end of a chapter and switched out the light,

he started to ask me to tell him more stories. Sometimes about me when I was little, like him. More

...