Something Greater

In 10^th grade during a free day in chemistry class, we watched a documentary. For those who don’t know, “documentary” is pronounced with the “ary” at the end, not a “tree”. Document-ARY. Yeah. Anyway, so this documentary was about these two French volcanologists (volcano scientists. Cool right?) who met in college, got married and became pioneers in filming volcanic eruptions. They traveled the world together, taking video and pictures of the world’s most active volcanoes. Nothing like this had ever really been done before. They wrote books together. They literally saved lives by showing footage of a volcano that was about to erupt to the president of Columbia who then ordered an evacuation. But in 1991, while scaling the side of an active volcano, they miscalculated the weak side of the mountain, the volcano erupted and they were killed instantly.

I remember sitting next to a friend of mine, who, after the film ended, said “Wow. That’s the most depressing thing I’ve ever heard in my life. Studying volcanoes is a stupid thing to do”. I was completely baffled by his response... because here I was thinking that the story of Katia and Maurice Krafft was one of the most beautiful, tragic, inspiring stories I’d ever heard.  That what they had is the only thing I want.  Not that I want to die in a volcanic eruption (even though that would be pretty epic) or that it’s a good thing they died prematurely, but they had something that so rarely is so explicit. They had passion.

Not only passion for each other, but passion for something greater than them both. I don't remember the quote exactly but Katia said of their relationship that they loved volcanoes, and they loved each other, and ultimately their love could not exist without volcanoes because that's what brought them together. They were a team. Not only with each other but with the volcanoes they studied. Maurice called the volcanoes their "friends" because they had built a relationship with them. They committed themselves to each other and to geology. They committed to walk where no one else was brave enough to walk. Am I the only one who sees how absolutely amazing they were? How brave and bold and how alive they were? They expressed volcanoes never scared them. Coincidentally, Maurice said the day before they died "I am never afraid because I have seen so much eruptions in 23 years that even if I die tomorrow, I don't care". They were that committed...

Then they died together, by the very thing that brought them together. They had accepted death long before this moment, and accepted the power volcanoes had, and how they could never control what would happen to them. They were not afraid to live, to pursue, to love, even though they knew of the potential to get hurt, to die even, Yet they didn't ignore the possibility of pain, they accepted it and respected it.They were submissive, yet bold. They accepted fate, and forged ahead anyway. And they did so together, in pursuit of the truth. How honorable and fitting is it that they died together, with the very things they loved? What more could we ask for than a life filled with passion and love and purpose? What more could we ask for than a life committed to something greater?

Now obviously, I don't know Katia and Maurice. I don't know how their lives really were... I only know what I've read and what I've seen and the impact they had on the world. I don't know if their relationship was perfect, in fact, I doubt it was. I don't know if everything presented to me was truth. But regardless of  what I don't know, I do know that if I had the love they had, I wouldn't be afraid either. Even though most of us aren't going to find true love by studying volcanoes, maybe their story is representative of what we all can have by loving others and committing to something greater.