In Memoriam – Mom
April 25, 1928 – February 29, 1988
[written March 1, 2009]
I thought it had passed.
Just yesterday, I remarked to my sister – “This is the first February in 21 years that hasn’t been brutal.”
Then this morning, just the mention of the phone call in the early morning darkness, when Dad told me you had died and I said, “Good” – (Good for who – me? You? The echo of guilt lingers still…) – brings back the grief like a wave crashing into rock, and I am pulled under in an instant, drowning.
The well of grief swallows me, the darkness returns, and I ache with loss – the emptiness – the missing of you – the longing for your closeness – (Me? The one who hated hugs? The one who now hugs all those in need, desperate for their/my/your touch?).
My right hand trembles, my teeth chatter, and I rock…I ache…I mourn.
My tears flood the emptiness with despair, until the well is filled to overflowing, and just when there can be no more left, the flood gates open with a rush of white-hot tears – searing, scalding, scarring – as they traverse the channels carved in my soul.
I escape then, but to where? A place of quiet, of gray, of nothing, where no one or no thing exists…where no one or no thing can hurt.
I am numb.
I cease to feel, to breathe, to mourn…quiet, waiting, collecting, remembering, forgetting. I want to stay in this nothing, where the past and present blend, simply waiting. I could spend eternity here, neither warm nor cold, neither black nor white – nothing.
But then a soft white light burns through the fog – slowly, steadily, purposefully – coming toward me. And when I turn from it, it envelops me with warmth, an embrace, a distant memory, a familiar voice, a whisper. It seeks, it flows, it permeates, it dissolves, it heals – slowly, completely. It restores breath into my lungs, it touches my hand and the trembling ceases.
The crying stops and I return. Depleted, yet complete, filled with the sense that love hurts and heals, devours and regenerates, erases then re-creates, takes away only to be made whole.
If I love, I risk.
My losses seem legion, but my blessings lift me to a place I would not have seen had I not been buried. The tears that drowned me in their ending are transformed into the healing waters of a baptism, a beginning, a grace.
I hesitate – these wings have weight – do I want what they hold? A familiar stirring inside me – a blossoming – a peace – a knowing that this is right and good. The weight will be lifted when I surrender.
And I hear the whispered promise – “I will be with you, always.” – and I feel Your embrace lift me up, then release me. I soar back into life, toward the light and Your promise, and I know I am who I am because of You, because of Your love.
Of whom do I speak? Of my Mother? Of God? Of His Mother? It matters not; only that I return. Only that I remember Your voice as I reach out to those in need. That I am present in their pain – that I quiet their tears – that I wait in their darkness – that I am their light and their hope as You were/are/will always be to me.
Lift me up, so that I might lift them.
Love me, so that I might love them.
Give me hope, so that I might bring hope to them.
Guide me, so that I might guide them.
Give me Your words, so that I might speak them.
Give me Your hearing, so that I might listen to them.
Heal me, so that I might heal them.
Remember me, as I remember You.
I am who I am, because of You.
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Related Post: Remembrance
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Beautiful.
Thank you.
Poignant! Those were the painful years of mourning you were describing but I’m glad you found your way to remembrance and consolation… even though the longing stays it nevertheless gets easier… the beautiful moments get to be the strongest memories the ones that stay and are cherished.
I think a lot of people can relate to this heartfelt post, thank you for sharing, for letting us in, that in itself is an act of love toward your mother’s memory 🙂
Your words touch my heart, and in reading and commenting, you help remember Mom. With gratitude and blessings…
How this resonates with me personally, and how beautifully you have described the moments of mourning that surge through me on certain days or at certain times. Love transcends time; longing does too.
We always return to the love, Mimi…always the love.
Always the love..who transcends all. God bless you and your mother
I remember reading this the first time you posted it. It is beautiful.
My thanks…
So beautifully written. And well-timed. My post tomorrow will be for my father – he passed away one year ago tomorrow. My words have been swirling in my head and have yet to make their way to my fingers. Maybe this will help. Thank you Theresa.
You are so welcome, Dale. I share in your pain and longing. Blessings…
beautiful….
My thanks…
Can I share this with a friend?
It is outstanding. I know she will like it as much as I do.
I won’t copy it without your permission.
I shall check back.
Thank you for your kind words. Please share it in the spirit of hope through all things.
Beautifully written..
Thank you, Carol-ann. I knew the team would understand…