Funeral Expenses for William Pope

William Pope was a wanderer, a wonderer, a musician, writer, thinker, a sherpa, a hacker, a fabulous cook, and a curator of small and beautiful moments. He was a son and a brother. Will was someone who moved through life on his own terms, and this most often included smiling and laughing with childlike abandon, while finding the unmatched humor, beauty, and absurdity in life. He was wise beyond his years, and was one of those people who could map out the connections between the atoms and the stars, and all the funny little things living in between them. 

His life was tragically cut short in a still unsolved hit-and-run accident that occurred in the early morning hours on a rural road in Macon GA at the beginning of November. His family was not located or notified of his death until late December. The police department has been unhelpful in providing details pertaining to their investigation, or lack thereof,  into his death,  and gave his family his family conflicting information about what was done with his remains. On January 12th, his family was finally able to bring his body back to Chattanooga TN to be laid to rest. 

This involved hiring and paying for a funeral car to transport him across state lines, which is on top of standard funeral expenses. The exact total of this is yet unknown, but will likely be somewhere near $8,000. My hope is that we can raise this money to help lessen the burden on his grieving family. 

Will's family is in contact with an attorney to investigate his death, and there may be legal fees in the future that are incurred as a part of this investigation. If this becomes the case, this page will be updated with those costs included. 

Will had a beautiful way with words, so I'd like to end this with some of his. 

"To feel is to deem sacred, and to live is (as it only could be) a spiritual act. But, to me, this sacrament, at its core, has no place for my ego. These symbols have existed before me and will exist after I die; the stock that I place in them while I live is specious at best.  I haven't created a distance. I've abolished it. Now this force lives with me every day. "

"You asked me what I saw today that was beautiful. When you stop and think about it. . .how much beauty do you see that goes unappreciated because you're not holding still enough for it? Sunsets. Painted tiles and the echo of good music. Warm beds and the order of things. Space, light, order. . .all nothing if time is not taken to appreciate them." 

"The people and things you meet throughout the course of your life will have a lasting effect; not one that you can leave, but one that has to leave *you*. If it can. Who's to say that not being spatially close to someone means you've left them?"