Yesterday I received a pretty card in the mail
from a dear lady Lucy loved, and who loved Lucy
and we met after her death though I felt like I knew her a little
already through Lucy.
Thank-you M💕
I have a number of new
'Lucy-friends' special in ways I could never have imagined;
Priceless traces of a beautiful life!
Job 7:9-10
9 As a cloud vanishes and is gone,
so one who goes down to the grave does not return.
10 He will never come to his house again;
his place will know him no more.
so one who goes down to the grave does not return.
10 He will never come to his house again;
his place will know him no more.
The above verses impress me like never before,
esp. when I drop in at Lucy's place.
Her girls and husband valiantly
perform the domestic duties of home
and things are still neat and tidy
but their place will never again know Lucy's presence
save in tender traces everywhere.
While I was there the other day watching her grandsons while
Granddaughter went to the dentist I puttered about
sweeping corners where the wind had blown in some debris,
watering planters etc.
'why are you doing this? queried her oldest grandson
as I swept in front of an ornamental door...
and I replied
'I'm sweeping the dirt away, just in case Grammy is watching'
and we waved up, up
to the big yellow and blue sky
and shouted 'hi'
and he laughed
and I cried.
'and' continued her Grandson turning back to the door,
'what is this door even for?!!'
Then I laughed out loud!
How like many males in my life he sounded;
What is the point of a door that doesn't open and leads nowhere 😂😂😂
(It turned out it inspired play-restaurant as he served me
every favourite food I could think of!)
I miss laughing with Lucy till we cried
over things impossible to explain afterward.
I miss sharing prayer-cares, recipes, gardening joys and tips,
a quick 'cuppa' or hearing her rattle off a poem or a quote
because her memory was amazing!
Her place is filled with traces of loving care
and many have spilled over to my place too.
Last year she brought me a few plants.
Honeysuckle
and Dipladenia...
Beautiful traces of her love for growing things.
This poem was also inspired in part by something shared
on my friend's FB memory yesterday ...
(the kind of writing Lucy loved and lived)
“There is a beauty in the fragility of life,
a sweetness to be savored in its fleeting moments of joy.
For it is in the rawness of our experiences,
both the joyful and the sorrowful,
that we truly come alive.
We are not meant to shield ourselves from the pain of life,
but to embrace it fully, to let it shape us, to teach us,
to make us more human.
So do not be afraid to love,
to open your heart to the world,
even if it means risking heartbreak.
For the sweetness of love far outweighs the bitterness of loss.
And when the inevitable pain comes,
find solace in the beauty of the world around you,
in the simple pleasures of life,
in the memories of love and laughter.
For even in the midst of sorrow,
there is still beauty to be found.”
—Louise Erdrich
'For the sweetness of love far outweighs the bitterness of loss. '
Yes.
So on we go, cherishing and considering the bittersweet worth of traces
either forever left behind or being forever left behind!
So worth the joy of love
So worth the air we trace
That teems with tender flickers of
A bygone time and face
So worth the letting go
With tears farewell imparts
To trace the sweetness of hello
That echoes in our hearts
So worth the picture book
That wafts upon the breeze
Where oft we pause to trace the crook
Of precious memories
So worth each tender trace
Love scattered in life’s wake
While we discover ‘all is grace’
While our broken hearts ache
So worth the parting kiss
As Time's 'never enough'
Begins to teach us sorrow is
So worth the joy of love
...so worth the tears that flow
And God gathers in jars
To trace the night with their halo
(I think we call them stars)
© Janet Martin
Ps.56:8
You number my wanderings;
Put my tears into Your bottle;
Are they not in Your book?
