Brian Christopher Giddens
The family of Otto Olafson is heartbroken to announce the sudden death of their beloved husband and father. Otto wore many hats. He served as an accountant with Black Box Investments for 35 years, was active in the Rotary Club, and a dedicated community volunteer. He leaves behind Fern, his wife of 36 years, his daughters Violet, Rose, and Hyacinth, their spouses, his beloved dog, Tulip, and many extended family members and friends.
Gardening was Otto’s passion. His house sat on a corner lot, surrounded by towering and prolific Maple trees. It was Otto’s mission from May through November to keep his sidewalks, walkways, and beds swept and raked free of seedlings from the Maple trees, which he called “helicopters.” Otto could be seen sweeping multiple times per week, early in the morning and late into dusk. He stretched his body across the garden beds to reach the errant seedlings that couldn’t be captured by his broom or his hand rake. Otto went through two brooms a season, and multiple pairs of jeans due to holes in the knees.
May and June were especially busy for Otto, when torrents of fresh green seedlings spiraled down, smaller than the crusty dry brown ones that came later in the season, and much harder to sweep. Just as he finished a stretch of sidewalk, he’d look back and see that more had dropped, and he would retrace his steps, sweeping up the latecomers. Otto continued to keep his sidewalks and beds free of debris until that fateful day when he was found down under the largest and most prolific of his trees.
In honor of Otto’s dedication, the Maple trees dispatched millions of helicopters to mark his passing.
Brian Christopher Giddens writes fiction and poetry from his home in Seattle, where he lives with his husband, and Jasper the dog. Brian’s writing has been featured in Sequestrum, Litro, On the Run Fiction, Glass Gates Collective, Roi Faineant, Silver Rose, Raven’s Perch, Flash Fiction Magazine, Bluebird Word, Hyacinth Review, Rue Scribe, Corvus Review, Glimpse and Evening Street Review. His work can be found on https://www.brianchristophergiddens.com/
Featured photo by Fatih Özer (Pexels)
