I’ve been given a lot of cards and poetry, a lot of sympathies and hugs, a lot of nods and shared tears over the past couple of weeks. It’s been harder on other folks, I think, than myself or my family.

Mom was a great friend, she’d give the shirt off her back for most people. It was family that she had a problem with… we owed her, you see. And not just us, but everyone who shared blood with her. She was expected to grow up fast, and because of that, she took it out on those around her. For relatives, things came at a cost and often not just monetary.

She started to show that more and more in her later years. Before that, it was selectively shown to her children, parents and siblings. What they say about lives behind closed doors is quite true.

That was never going to change. So, like I’ve mentioned elsewhere this week, I’m not mourning what was. I am mourning what could have been.

I hope she has found the peace that she didn’t have in life.

From an old friend, who posted this for the family the day after Mom died:

In the rise of the sun and in its going down
We remember them

In the blowing of the wind and in the chill of winter
We remember them

In the warmth of the sun and the peace of summer
We remember them

In the rustling of the leaves and the beauty of autumn
We remember them

In the beginning of the year and when it ends
We remember them

When we are weary and in need of strength
We remember them

When we are lost and sick at heart
We remember them

When we have joys we yearn to share
We remember them

So long as we live,they too shall live,
For they are now part of us,
As we remember them.

By Rabbis Sylvan Kamens & Jack Riemer from Gates of Prayer

Thanks, Cory! I’m going to suggest that we read this at the internment…

’til next week,
<3 JL