The part that is here

I was reading about how people are praying for Christopher Hitchens.  He is not offended by their prayers, he says; he charitably assumes they are praying for his recovery.  On the possibility that he would make a belated confession of faith, he says “no one recognizable as [him] would ever make such a remark.”  I was reading the newspaper while the boys and I were eating strawberries, so I asked them about it.

Rachel: Here’s a guy, his name is Christopher, and he’s very sick and he is probably going to die soon so people are thinking about him and thinking about what happens after you die.  What do you think happens after you die?
Jordan: You fade into the earth.
Rachel: Do you think there is any part of you that is still here?
Jordan: Probably some small parts.
[I love that.]
Rachel: Some people think there is a part of you that stays alive after you die, a special part that you can’t see called the soul.  Some people think that that part stays around and visits, kind of like a ghost. 
Jordan: Is it good?
Rachel:  Usually, yes.  Other people think it goes somewhere else, called heaven.  Other people think there is not a part like that and after you die, you are gone.  What do you think?
Jordan: I think that my idea is right.  That you fade into the earth.
Rachel:  Do you think there is some part of Nana that is still here?
Jordan:  I think there is a part of her that is here that makes us remember her and give up for her.  I am not positively sure.
[I love that too.]
Rachel:  I miss Nana. 
Jordan:  She loved us even though all she could really do is watch us.
Rachel:  When I was a kid I used to go to her house for sleepovers, and she would make macaroni and cheese for me.  She made the best macaroni and cheese ever.
Aaron: When I grow up, I would like to be a special god, so that I can help people out when they are dead.