This is the first Mother’s Day since my mother died last June.
For me, this is the first Mother’s Day since 1952 that my mother hasn’t been here.
She is gone, there is no doubt.
And she is still here, equally without doubt. I bump into her on the driveway when the first spring crocuses emerge in my garden. I hear her voice when I post a photo she’d appreciate. I see her smile when a baby goes by. And on, and on.
“Gone but not forgotten,” is the saying, and Mom loved sayings, writing about them often.
“Gone but not gone” seems more to the point, I think. So may I live that the same will be true of me.
Not forgotten by us, either.
Marlene and Wayne, Calgary
Marlene & Wayne – I know. And thank you.
Yup. Profoundly grateful for what I received, and for the memories I have. But I liked it better the way it was before.
Ralph – “I liked it better the way it was before.” Indeed. Who’s in charge? I’d like to register a complaint.
Lovely Isabel. A particularly poignant Mother’s Day.
Mary – It is, indeed.
You’ll have touched many hearts with this one, Isabel. Including mine, I might add. My minister has a line he uses at almost every Memorial service cum Celebration of Life cum funeral: “Death ends a life; it doesn’t end a relationship.”
That idea of an unending relationship is the only way I can rationalize traditional beliefs in eternal life. About which I should not start pontificating here…..
Jim T
Jim – Thanks kindly. I have issues with the traditional afterlife, also, but I know that others live on in us, and we in others (or so we hope).
Thanks for this Isabel. She was precious to so many people. Your remembrance today allowed me to go back through her blog and copy over to my files some of those posts that spoke to my heart. She was a wise woman with a gift of prose that allowed her to give voice to so many of our feelings.
Thanks, Dorothy. She’d be tickled to know you still value her blogs – it gave her such pleasure, primarily from the interaction with her readers.
Thanks Isabel.
Lorna – 🙂
I only met her once in person, but feel I know her through you and her blogs, always heartening to read.
Barbara – Yes, I have friends whom I’ve never met – I know them only through their writing.
Well said, as always. LOVE the baby picture of you!
Alison – It was a very bright day! I swear my father never learned how to take pictures of people.
Isabel
That was so lovely and touching. Thanks so much further sharing that.
Tom
Tom – Thanks, Tom. We’re all in the same boat, one way or another, aren’t we?
I so frequently think about and almost talk to my mother that I do understand why some people believe in ghosts. For me, memories are very friendly. Lovely tribute to your mother and your family.
Judith – Yes, there is often a sense of her presence. Maybe it’s as simple as Jim T’s clergy friend says – the relationship doesn’t die.