Happy 82nd Birthday, dear Mom born Nov.1, 1942
(photo credit on this post goes to my sister Marlene)
the presence of each other seemed more treasured,
our love more tender than ever before,
in the light of grief...
My mom asked if she could host it
(for the first time ever) in what has been a tradition
for SO many years!
If Lucy were here I could count on her to remember
when it started, who hosted it
and maybe even what she was wearing and
if/who she was pregnant with...
๐
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She had an incredible memory!!
Because mom hosted it, Dad could enjoy the celebration too ๐
(although we have another one on Sunday that includes our men as well)
Grief ebbs, then rushes in like a billow, invisible
It rolls through heart and soul with staggering intensity
It strips us of all pretense; Love's most severe crucible
As God, who IS love, tries the Part that He alone can see
Grief sends us on a journey we would never choose to take
Around and 'round a gaping void, veiled by faรงades, skin-thin
It winds heartstrings through phantom frames where echoes tug and ache
Woven from moments not unlike the moments we are in
Grief moans like autumn's lonely wind through woodlands, leaf-bereft
It sobs, like summer, silenced by its sum of Season-sand
From detonated dreamlands, it examines what is left
Sifting through drifts of rubble diamond-dust, where once Love laughed and planned
Grief teaches us to live with an 'if the Lord wills' regard
To love as if Today could be the last for you or me
It stirs holier handling of dawn's invitation card
Because Today does not come with a Morrow-guarantee
Grief metes Love's Must; relentless thrust of waves, dash-crash-recede
Then, with renewed velocity, returns with wrenching pains
To wander rooms, once full of Innocence we did not heed
Where now his/her essence of presence, like a shadow remains
Grief takes us to the arms of friends and family so dear
And it is no coincidence, it drives us to our knees
To draw us to The Sacred Solace of God's list'ning ear
*And glimpses to the Inner Room of Heaven's Mysteries/Sympathies
Janet ๐๐
The verses below comfort me constantly,
as I lift my wordless groans to God's intercession
Rom.8:26-27
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness.
We do not know what we ought to pray for,
but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.
And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit,
because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people
in accordance with the will of God.
Below, yesterday's timely and profound devotion
from the book Streams in the Desert, Vol.1
(* this devotion articulates splendidly, the last line in today's poem)
While I was working on this post
a friend sent me these words...
She is mourning the loss of a friend who passed away this week.
"God is so gracious and so tender,
even though we might never get the ‘why’ on this side of heaven."
Thank-you, Joanne!
(Her friend was released from a brave battle with ALS)
And last but not least...
My mom with her salt and pepper shaker collection
200+ pairs!
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Yesterday she invited each of us to choose a pair,
before she gives her grandchildren the opportunity to do the same
I chose these Siamese cats.
They have lived in my mother's china hutch since
before I was born.
From her friend Mary (Mrs. Abner Martin)
My two 'little sisters' enjoying their choices!
Lucy was the middle sister...
