Mother's Tribute

Today is Mother's Day.  That's good and that's bad.  The good is that all across the country millions of moms of all races, cultures, and religious beliefs are being taken to Lubys, given flowers, and told by smartly dressed children how appreciated they are.  Or, at least I hope so.  Because the bad is that I can't do any of that.  Today should be a difficult day, but truthfully it's no different than yesterday or the day before.  When the hole in your soul is big enough to contain every star in the galaxy what's a day make?  Life's experiences make us all wiser and more appreciative of the things life offers us.  Tragically, at the time those things seem small and of little value.  It's only after they are gone do we fully know their worth.  As I have gone through boxes of Mother's papers and mementos I have gained a much clearer insight into who she was.  Not that I didn't know her before, but the window into her was polished and focused with more clarity.  I was the apple of her eye and going through her things made me know that even more than I did.  Only now have I fully realized the value, the irreplaceable worth she had.

Today is Mother's Day.  It's the first of many that I will celebrate without having the one to celebrate with.  As painful as that may be, it doesn't make me unique.  It only makes me older, wiser.  Age passes at a frantic pace, time passes even quicker.  The fleeting ticks of the clock ore gathered by Old Man Time and formed into days, which, in turn, serve as the bricks of time that form weeks and years.  The present now presents an opportunity to savor the little things that remain.  Only now perhaps I'll esteem them with the value they deserve and the attention they demand.  Through this I have gained a new found admiration for those who have preceded me in loosing a parent.  It isn't easy even if it's all part of the natural ebb and flow if life.

Today is Mother's Day.  I'll celebrate it by knowing Mom's always at the center of my heart.  I will always recall the time her and John came to spend a few days with Nidia and me.  As they were leaving we all stood outside the front door giving our goodbye hugs.  As I hugged Mother I remember how small and fragile she felt in my arms.  But, in that fragility was a woman I know to be tough as nails and strong willed.  Even as her health began to fail her she never lost that spirit of fight and ruggedness.  It was those qualities she imparted to me and used herself to protect me.  She was and will always be my hero.



This video is restricted viewing on YouTube, although it can be freely viewed here.  If you need to view it directly from YouTube contact me and I can email you the URL.  This is the video tribute that was used at her funeral.  I want to thank Bert Gritz of Cordry-Gritz Funeral Home for providing the copy.

Acorns and Dreams, Dante's Voyage

An acorn is food to some while to others a dream. A squirrel scurries across the meadow that glistens and ripples in the warm sunlight; a meadow bristling with life. The meadow is circled by towering oak trees, massive towers of timeless strength and endurance that rise above the mist. The squirrel is busy gathering food in the warmth before the cold winter sets in and snatches all the tiny acorns he can find. Returning to his borough, in his haste a stray acorn falls to the ground. A tiny acorn once destined to feed a family of squirrels has now become a dream, a dream of the forest. Through the cycle of seasons, time after time this same process creates new forest and new life. In Dante’s Inferno there is another “acorn” that falls to the ground. There is another source of change, of dreams becoming reality. In allegory, the squirrel represents Dante, the meadow represents Hades, and the acorns represent truth. So that before the cold winter of death claims Dante, by entering the Inferno he hopes to gather all the “acorns” of truth he can that will give him fuller meaning to this present life. These acorns fall into the soil of his being giving birth to new life and wisdom for Dante. Through his journeys chronicled in the Inferno Dante is able to gather truth, insight, and a clearer perception of justice. Dante grows as the mighty oaks that have their beginnings in a tiny acorn. However, just as in the forest, growth is not always easy or is the way of growth always marked with clarity.