The Life of Ted : The Heart of Lifted
Compass by Red Danielson | For Those Who Have Lost
You must speak the names of those who have left you
to ensure the cemetery’s wisdoms remain free of stone.
The petals of their voices are scattered to the wind, their shadows like distant hooves.
But speak their name and certain approximations return from the familiar garden
outside of time where the unseen hour gives life to silence,
and the soil is plowed with columns of moonlight.
They wish to hear again. They wish to hear a name.
Fill a jar of all the night sky and look into the glass mouth where its blueprint of stars
turns in on itself like a nautilus and every star surrounds
far into futility, apotheosis, meteoric blossoms without end.
Speak the name of the one who left you there into the jar of night,
until your throat splits, a bifurcated obelisk of shredded banners,
until you’ve stepped outside of syllable and the name is bound no more.
A rainbow of birds keeping time in song and color will surface
where the seams of all else vanish.
The body oppresses a grief of weight to the soul so heavy the heart forgets.
But here it is once again, a voice no longer lost,
breathless as a star resting in the mercy of no shadow,
heard now in timeless night,
survived beyond the first star.
Goodnight.
The birds are crying. Say what you will.
Ted's Story
Ted was a beautiful and cautious 22-month-old. He loved playing with his brothers and cousins and had a special bond with his dog, Chloe. He died tragically and suddenly on February 14, 2016, when the dresser in his bedroom fell on him during nap time. The McGee family couldn’t understand how this happened and why they didn’t hear the dresser fall. Soon after Ted died, they learned his dresser had not only killed other children, but that over 500 people in the U.S. had died since the year 2000 from dresser and TV tip-overs. Over 90% of these fatalities were children under the age of 6. The McGee family also learned of the quiet nature of dresser tip-overs and how a child’s body aids in reducing the noise from dresser tip-overs. His family set out to educate others on the dangers of unanchored furniture and advocate passionately for updated dresser safety standards. Their work paid off when President Biden signed the STURDY Act into law in 2022.
Ted is deeply missed every day. His death awakened his mother Janet (Lifted’s founder) that we have a choice in how we respond to our adversities in life; we are not powerless to our circumstances. It also taught her that while society encourages distraction, comparison and speed, life is meant to be embraced slowly, authentically and intentionally. Our mission at Lifted Wellness is to encourage individuals from all generations to embrace the journey of self-growth for the wellbeing of the collective.
“We find purpose in both Ted’s life and his death. One enriched our lives; the other is saving lives.” – Janet McGee, owner of Lifted Wellness and Cafe
About the Artist
About the Artist
writer. poet. artist. educator. storyteller.
Red Danielson is an American writer, painter, and poet exploring the duality and coexistence of the divine and the mundane. Growing up along the Mississippi River in a working class town, his work deals with themes of absurdity, reality, addiction, and the mental bridge that connects it all.
A 2022 graduate of the Iowa Writer's Workshop, Red was the inaugural recipient of the Hamode Samuel Hamod Poetry Fellowship, a recipient of an Iowa Writer's Room Screenwriting Fellowship, a Fairall Fellowship, and a 2024 Pushcart Prize nominee in poetry.
