Why An Emprise?

As long as he's had access, Dad loved Words with Friends. Many of the people reading this blog post have likely played a game (or five!) with my father. He was a fanatic about words for most of his life in many ways, but it showed up with the most clarity in his love for that game.

A few years ago, he and I were locked in a tight game, and I thought I would win it. Just when I got the idea for a play that could cinch the victory, Dad broke me down with a ten-letter word and gave himself thirty points of lead space. I still don't remember the word he played, but I knew the one I was going to play, and it felt fitting to apply it here, in this space of remembrance, as I begin to prepare us for the celebrations ahead.

The word "emprise" is commonly used to describe a mission of chivalry, referencing the brave acts undertaken by knights. Chaucer wrote this in Canterbury Tales:

"There was a knight that loved and went through pains / To serve a lady in his best way; / And many a labor, many a great emprise, / He wrought for his lady before she was won."

I'm never quite sure why Dad did all the things (that I will recount in later posts) toward the end of his extraordinary life, and I'm pretty certain he didn't either. But I am sure that much of this ending was just as much about his beginnings, remembering times when he had to be brave and see things through that may have been dangerous or have opaque outcomes. This was especially true of the years he spent in Manchester, remembered so vividly and retold to many in the last five years.

He was a risk-taker and a gambler at his core and often couldn't imagine a possibility where he wouldn't come up on top. And oftentimes, he was right... unless Lady Luck wasn't on his side.

Dad’s last emprise is one we get to share with him. It can hurt but at the same time it is an honor to be along for the ride.