“The worst turns the best to the brave“, and so it was in Oakland this Friday evening as children, adults, friends and neighbors came out and fell silent as memorials for Michael Altana were revealed at the Oakland Rec Fields.
Michael, a young Oakland student and athlete, passed suddenly in the spring of 2013. Donations were made in his name, and the proceeds have been used to purchase new benches that are dispersed throughout the Rec Fields along with a memorial monument at the entrance of the football field.
As an Oakland Volunteer Fire Department truck extended a ladder into the night sky to display an American flag, and a harvest moon shone full in the distance, Oakland paid tribute to one of her own.
Michael’s love of sports was recalled, his number 99 retired, and Dave Altana voiced the family’s appreciation for the support shown by the community. A moment of silence was as loud and powerful as the words echoing across the rec fields, and the moist eyes glistening in the night gave evidence of heavy hearts – but they were brave hearts nonetheless.
Many Oakland youth could be seen sporting T-shirts with Altana 99 on the back, or the name Altana taped to their shirts; and, in another tribute, the Oakland Braves along with their Franklin Lakes opponents wore the number 99 on the back of their football helmets.
The waist high memorial, purchased with donations, is less a memorial and more an inspiration with an inscription that reads “May his passion for sports and enjoyment of life inspire all who play on these fields!”
Robert Browning in his poem Prospice wrote, “I would hate that death bandaged my eyes, and forebore, And bade me creep past“. This memorial speaks the same sentiment, and as Oakland players rush to take the field with out stretched hands gliding over the monument, a silent voice beckons, “Though a battle’s to fight ere the guerdon be gained..I was ever a fighter, so – one fight more…”
For additional pictures, please visit OaklandRec.org