Dear Lucy, Of Memories We Treasure Now...

There is something heart-wrenchingly healing

as I compose each Dear Lucy poem/post!

Thank-you, Lord

This quote (author unknown), rings so true 🙏💓

When someone you love becomes a memory

the memory (and memories) become a treasure...

Tomorrow it will be 11 months since someone I took far too for granted

(Dear Lucy,  the middle sister of the five Martin girls)

 became a memory to treasure...and oh, what a bitterly-sweetest treasure!

Below is a group of friends that tried

to get together for at least a few of our birthdays

every year..(one friend absent from these shots)

These tea-parties have become cherished memories to treasure!

(Lucy, third from the left) 

Above photo Oct. 2023, a birthday tea at the café where Lucy served us with

honour and delight!

Lucy LOVED serving her friends and family either in her home

 or at various restaurants and cafés

where she worked throughout her life!

Below Mar. 27 2024 (Lucy's last birthday)

my mom, sister and I surprised her at work

and came for lunch

This memory plus many more while sitting at her kitchen table,

inspired the first four lines of this month's poem.

Your brisk, bouncy, efficient stride

Your happiness when serving us

Your table set with loving pride

Your pleasure in the detail-fuss...

Your brisk, bouncy, efficient stride

Your happiness when serving us

Your table set with loving pride

Your pleasure in the detail-fuss

Your smile, your spontaneity

Your tardy tune-in with 'what?! who?!'

Your love of home and family

And interest in others too

Your faith, that deepened joy and grief

Your prayers for fellow hopes and hurts

Your delight in each season's brief

Beauty-fest. Your fresh-baked desserts

Your 'artist's eye' for painting things

Your energy to get it done

Your sentimental renderings

Or humorous, quick-witted pun

Your love of books, of poetry

Of anything worthy to read

Of planting a garden to see

The miracle in every seed

Your kindred-spirit-common-ground

With we who  love the loss of words

When truth's epiphanies confound

The tongue, but leave hearts and souls stirred

Your boundless appetite for life

While weathering its 'yes' and 'nope'

From a fountain of mercy, rife

With opportunity and hope

Your encouraging wisdom born

From your own share of bitter blows

Your willingness to brave love's thorn 

To reap the beauty of its rose  

Your one-and-only-you, oh how

We miss your precious presence here

Where memories we treasure now 

Are love's beautiful keepsakes, dear

Reminding us, through smiles and tears

To thank God for the blessing of

Bearing the part sorrow reveres 

Because we were part of your love

By your sister Janet on

behalf of so many

'treasure-embracers' 

Another B-day celebration...

this one at my house

...and another below at 'J's'  house

Ps.116:15 NIV

Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his faithful servants.

  

                       

                                                                                                               

The Ongoing Interview

A year ago today/yesterday our truck was stolen 

out of our back yard during a family reunion

 ( the loss was just a truck and eventually it was recovered) but

I commented to some friends yesterday how it felt like that day began

a volley of staggering blows and losses,

a schooling in sorrow and the 

incomprehensible compassion of God poured through

people and His Word; evoking a keener awareness to a kind of

Interview, where God has always said

'Trust me' and delights in proving His faithfulness

if we are willing to obey and trust Him

A year ago today Lucy dropped by unannounced

with a bouquet of gladiolas, and much sympathy.

(and classic Lucy-greeting,

oh wow! Are you always dressed up like you're going for groceries,

even on a Monday afternoon of canning?!!) 😅💓

My, my I miss my spontaneous, speak-her-mind/heart sister💔😭

Because our truck was stolen (a friend reminded me much later) 

we, unknowingly had our last just-the-two-of-us, heart-to-heart afternoon together!

Before she left we hugged and said 'I love you'.

After the tragedy that ended her earthly life

Her husband chose Rom. 8:28 

And we know that in all things 

God works for the good of those who love him, 

who[a] have been called according to his purpose

as a grounding verse.

 Because of our stolen truck

God worked for good

Lucy's response to the nudge to come 

and give me a hug, amidst her busyness.

God gave me a memory to treasure forever...

(I can't begin to describe how the last year has

transformed joy/hope through incredible heartbreak!

My heart feels ripped, crushed and cradled!!)

The Interview between Father and Child,

to teach needful lessons is always painful, isn't it, daddies?

Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,

God hath shined.

Ps.50:2

We are God’s workmanship; thus, are part of an interview

With He who kindles every star, then dims them with the sun

Who, out of Zion pours perfection’s bespoke beauty through

A fathomless reflection of love’s work barely begun

While, 'gainst a universal scrim, His evidence of truth

Beckons us to remember Him in the days of our youth

The Interviewer of our days; the Kindler of each star

Delights to hear our heartful praise, while joy or sorrow roll

He tests and weighs worship’s reply; no matter who we are

He loves us; Lord of earth and sky and Saviour of the soul

He tries the highs of boast with blows; He refines gains with loss

To prove who we love most; with woes He points us to the cross

Each day runs rife with lows and highs; part of Love’s Interview

While life spills hellos and goodbyes, while we choose who to serve

In a world where anything goes (it seems), where liars woo/coo

Where change and Changeless juxtapose on Hope’s brief honing-curve

While breath by breath soft-dwindles what consumes Attention’s claim

While, like the stars He kindles, God knows each of us by name

...where while life lasts we are in an ongoing Interview

With He who shines through every star, and the sun cannot dim

Who gave His life doomed souls to save, who rose and overthrew

The deadly triumph of the grave, for all who trust in Him

Lord, tune our ears to hear, above the trials faith endures

The Interviewer’s perfect love, whose grace the soul secures

© Janet Martin

Take heart, all of us who are being 'interviewed/tested'...

James 1:2-8

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,

 3knowing that the testing of your faith produces [a]patience.

 4But let patience have its perfect work, 

that you may be [b]perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

 5If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, 

who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 

6But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, 

for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.

 7For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;

 8he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

1 Peter 5:9-10

Resist him, 

standing firm in your faith and in the knowledge 

that your brothers throughout the world 

are undergoing the same kinds of suffering. 

 And after you have suffered for a little while, 

the God of all grace, who has called you 

to His eternal glory in Christ, 

will Himself restore you, 

secure you, 

strengthen you, 

and establish you.

Dear Lucy, It Is Summer

...and now it is ten months since our hearts were suddenly broken,

never to be the same again!

Dear Lucy, how we miss you!

The honeysuckle vine you gave is gilt with clusters, pink...

The breeze chases a winsome wave that rolls through wheat fields, gold...

The lily and the hollyhock lure honey bees to drink...

And everywhere we look earth gleams with beauty to behold

Summer has much on offer to rekindle awe and praise

The garden like a coffer brimming with the fruit of dreams

The countryside, a work of art entitled Summer Days...

Dear Lucy

The honeysuckle vine you gave is gilt with clusters, pink

The breeze chases a winsome wave that rolls through wheat fields, gold

The lily and the hollyhock lure honey bees to drink

And everywhere we look earth gleams with beauty to behold

Summer has much on offer to rekindle awe and praise

The garden like a coffer brimming with the fruit of dreams

The countryside, a work of art entitled Summer Days

(where joy and sorrow rush the heart in conflicting extremes)  

Sometimes, when missing you ignites fresh, sudden pangs of grief

I count the ways I loved you, sister dear, and love you more 

Then, from a world of yesterdays, descends divine relief

Love's symphony of echoes plays a tender repertoire 

The memories I have of you are like a garden path

Traced and retraced, soft woven through with threads I cannot touch

They gently bind the isles Thought trods to Laughter's Aftermath

Of Summers where we oohed and a-ahed, and talked and walked and such

....while watching our children grow too fast; they always do

While weathering the ebb and flow of tides that stole our youth

While planting flow'rs in trouble's dirt like our mother did too

While learning from parental hurt, lessons of timeless truth 

What I would give to hear you sigh or exclaim with delight  

Over something that caught your eye while your heart skipped a beat

A field full of wild flowers, purple, yellow, red and white (we were out on a sister's day)

Or twilight's tranquil bowers, or a yummy fresh-baked treat 

No, summer has not changed its ways, it still burgeons with bliss

And never ceases to amaze on both good days and bad 

The sky is blue; the lake is too, but, oh, in spite of this 

Somehow sweet summer without you just isn't quite as glad 

Janet Martin 

The memories I have of you are like a garden path

Traced and retraced, soft woven through with threads I cannot touch...

This year I planted a little flower garden in my vegetable garden...

A place to work, and let the therapy of flowers comfort me.

A place to sit to pray, read and remember Lucy, as well as my parents,

my other three sisters and their spouses,

my five brothers and their spouses

And of course her husband and children

We, as a family, all share in this deep grief of missing Lucy..

I hope in August when more flowers bloom, 

and you also would love a quiet moment of reflection and remembering Lucy,

you know you are welcome to drop by my garden too 💛🙏 

In the Garden

Dear Lucy, Then Heaven...

Dear Lucy, today marks nine months since

you were suddenly called Home...

May all of us who miss you so

honour your memory by loving well

those still within our reach!💓🙏

Lucy loved flowers...esp. peonies!

In her eulogy one of her children remembered her calling to them

to come and stuff their face in a peony 

'because you have not lived till you've stuffed your face in a peony!!'

So Lucy, this peony-season each face-stuffing is in tender memory of you...💝💔

 Won't you too, take time to stuff your face in a peony?!

and when you do, thank God for your loved ones, 

pray for those mourning the loss of a loved one

and consider, if God should call you as suddenly as He called Lucy

nine months ago, if you are prepared to meet Him

because you have received the gift of salvation 

when you believed in Him! 

This is one of the first verses our parents taught us to memorize

John 3:16

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, 

that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

***

When Death, the Scythe that ceases Time, gathers a loved one beyond reach

Then Heaven, once hope's distance clime becomes longing's uttermost roar

Where, though we stagger 'neath the weight of lessons love must ever teach

We turn our eyes toward a Gate that gleams far fairer than before

When Death delivers Farewell's rift and stuns the grasp of mortal ken

Then Heaven, once salvation's gift becomes sorrow's song, over-joyed

And though our tears may flow, we know God's keeps His promises. Amen

He cheers us with strains of 'hello' wafting across yon, gaping void

When Death reminds we who remain how small-swift-sacred is life's lease 

When earthly loss is Heaven's gain then Heaven suddenly draws near

Compelling us with humbler hearts to look upon the Prince of Peace

Until faith turned to sight imparts the face of God and loved ones dear 

When Death, the Scythe that ceases time fells dust-to-dust's brief vestibule 

Then Heaven, once hope's distant clime draws grief to gaze beyond the grave

On He who gathers back the soul, who made Heaven's hope/Home possible 

Conquering death and hell for all who call on Him, Mighty To Save 

~Janet Martin

The Sweet By and By

While My Body Grins and Groans (I want to take nothing for granted)

Recently I have heard more than one person say they don't want to take anything for granted!

I echo this sentiment in today's reflection of birthday celebration weekend.

Ps.90:12

So teach us to number our days, 

That we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Thank-you God, for

 Fridge-foragers...

Father and son discussions (on the merits of certain hockey players etc.) 😅

Impromptu Sat. afternoon surprise coffee break... thank-you Emily and fam!

(Missed a pic of the delicious raspberry lemon scones, still oven-warm!)

Precious birthday-celebration dinner-guests...

 (my parents)

and Victoria...

 Dear Husband, May I never take you for granted

(too often, sadly, I do!)

esp. your hat-tossing habits 😐😏 which haven't changed

 since mentioned HERE on last year's anniversary poem...

Special sister time...

even more special in a peony garden !

Whistling Gardens near Brantford, ON

(below, a few of fifty+ pics of peonies)

Sister smelling the 'roses' while her hubby

scouts out ice-cream shops on homeward route 😊😂💖

I want to take nothing for granted in life's little Learn and Teach

Where soon each gifted day is planted in a garden out of reach

I want to wonder at God's grandeur; be mesmerized by His grace,

To be fine-tuned to tender splendour till nothing seems common place

Collecting through life's gains and losses, a much gladder gratitude   

Braving love's charge of shouldered crosses by trusting Mercy Renewed 

Contented in the Steadfast Knowing, come what may God never fails

His love is constantly bestowing winds to test and steer faith's sails

I want to take nothing for granted, where blooms briefly beam and nod 

But to be more humbly enchanted by the handiwork of God 

He, who attends both joy and sorrow maintains nature's threaded loom 

I want to live today without tomorrow's borrowed dread and doom 

I want to manifest His Presence in the peace of Letting Go

Where true happiness is, in essence, this; trusting His yes and no

Confident that the One who began a good work will see it through  

The Author of salvation's plan is faithful, trustworthy and true 

I want to take nothing for granted in life's leap from Him to Him 

Soon morning's newborn ray is slanted westward; soon Today grows dim

While epitaphs that time composes sets gasps in permanent ink

Like a storm of thorns and roses scattered, blood-red and blush-pink 

As breath-by-breath's brimming succession spills life's sacred, fleeting Toll

Wreathed by dust-to-dust's grim profession of death's claim of all but Soul 

So, before my hulled husk is planted in a garden of grave-stones

I want to take nothing for granted while my body grins and groans 

I do not want to take for granted the sheer wonder of it all

Or become dumbly disenchanted just because the petals fall

Or love's smile-and-tear weathered tether snaps; the ties that bind undone

By the Hand that brought us together; nothing new under the sun

Rousing us, Self-heady-prone dreamers to face raw reality

Time's transient flash of  vapour/paper streamers unhinges eternity 

So, while life's precious plot is planted with memories that love makes 

I do not want to take for granted that which God both gives... and takes 

© Janet Martin

I do not want to take for granted the sheer wonder of it all

Or become dumbly disenchanted just because the petals fall...

Thank-you God, for another birthday...

Thank-you for sisters/family and friends

 who showered me with beautiful birthday wishes

and flowers...

I came home yesterday, a bit peony-high

to find a new variety of peony (Dark Eyes) a deep burgundy-red

 at my door, from my friend's garden!

thank-you Kim 💖

I was also sweetly blessed by a begonia-planter 

in memory of the begonias Lucy gave all of us sisters last year,

from my sister Marlene 💗💔

Some flowers in the hue of the flowers Lucy gave us sisters last year

(because the peachy-coloured begonias were sold out)

From my sister Carolyn...we 'watered' them with a few mingled, tender tears;

Love's universal language

I'll admit it was an extra-teary birthday.

I miss Lucy with profound tenderness in times like these

so I took out the book she gave me in place of a card last year...