I am drawn to words, to details,
to intricate layers
and
equally magnificent wonder.
(this is the tree line behind our farm)
I put my Halloween decorations away last night, bringing out the turkeys that would roost in the house for the next month. As I did so, I thought about things -- pondered them in my heart, retelling a story again in my mind and now here. Although sometimes it seems like yesterday -- it was a fair number of years ago that I spent a last Halloween with my mother - a strong, independent woman who knew a thing or two about joy & hardship & celebration & resiliency (all the ying and yang of life). She also knew about the power of simple magnificence -- and would mark the first snow fall and the first robin's return as important markers in life. I sat with her on that October day -- window in the nursing home open with that year's unseasonably warm weather for a Halloween. I sang songs to her -- from day camp, from holidays past, words that came to my mind ... about peace and farewells and silent nights. Knowing that in each of those last moments time was fleeting -- but yet it stood still. So, it was no surprise at all that as she passed on, I would turn to the window just inches behind me --- and see robins lined up on the window sill.
Call me sentimental, call me spiritual...
sometimes
yes, sometimes
the moment truly takes your breath away.
"my whole world it begins & ends with you...."
(those are the words I think of lately
-- words by my favorite Zac Brown Band)
How lucky we are to have moments, people & places
that make us smile when we see them
and cry when we say our farewells.
4 comments:
I simply want to say "Thank You" for this post. It is beautiful.
Kari,
Thank you for sharing your tender memories of being present with your mother as she completed her earthly journey. It made me smile to read what a lovely send off you provided with your soft serenade of familiar songs. What an act of kindness! You were then rewarded with a lovely symbol of peace and comfort. Thank you for sharing.
Kindest Regards, Jeannine
Kari,
That story always swells my heart and breaks it at the same time. How is that possible? Can I schedule you to be at my side.... when the time comes?
Jani
How often the answer is always right there...those burning bushes, those reminders that there is something beyond any scope of reason.
Robins make me smile in the spring when they arrive, and feel such a sense of sadness in the fall when they leave...but always with an, "I will miss you so, but see you again soon". They do indeed mark our chapters here in Wisconsin just like a book mark.
Kari
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