A Weekly Offering of This n That

Rainy Day is my alter ego. She is the little angel that sits on one shoulder and whispers in my ear to forgo that 6" piece of triple chocolate fudge with the four scoops of ice cream on it; she is also the little devil who sits on my other shoulder and convinces me that I can eat just one bite of each and be satisfied, and then laughs with such great abandon when in fact, I eat the whole thing, she falls off my shoulder. Mostly, Rainy Day helps me see the humor in living and, mostly, she encourages me down the right path. Not necessarily the straight and narrow one (how fun is that?) but the path that offers the most adventure and fun.


Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Rainy Day and Henry Scheirman


This has been a week of memories for Rainy Day. Her grandparents (maternal side) were married on Thanksgiving and had more than 50 years of happiness. Rainy Day's little brother was born on Thanksgiving Day, so he celebrated another milestone.

As Rainy Day's dearly beloved auntie used to say, "S/He who has the most birthdays, lives longest." Rainy Day and her brother are in a competition to see who wins;-)

And an old friend of Rainy Day's died. Henry Scheirman. Rainy Day met Henry and his delightful wife, Mary, several years ago at a Writer's Workshop held in Charleston, OR. She had so much fun, she kept going back, and when she retired, she moved close. Mary ran the workshops and Henry hovered about helping out as needed. He also did much of the catering. He was a gourmet chef.

All the men who met Henry liked him, and all the women loved him. It was great fun to flirt and 'fight' over Henry's attentions because we all knew there was only one woman in his life, and that woman was Mary, whom he adored.

Mary quit having the Workshops, and they moved, and Rainy Day moved, and there was one too many address change, both snail and electronic, and we lost track of each other. Some of us tried to locate them, but we couldn't, Henry and Mary had vanished, it seemed. What happened is, according to someone who heard it from someone, they moved into a retirement home.

Sunday, their son Ted, called a mutual friend, who let several of us know, Henry had died on Saturday. Mary, he said, was aware of what happened, but is very frail, and sleeps most of the time. So, now Rainy Day has found her old friend, only to find out he's gone, and his wife nearly so.

Be in peace, friend Henry. You are much loved and missed.

Rainy Day has lost a lot of friends and family in her life (that's to be expected when one get's 'old' – the longer you live, the more goodbyes you say). But she has learned some good stuff through this loss. She has learned to tell her friends and family often how much they mean to her. She has learned that Death is not to be feared, it is a part of Life. She has learned that Grief must be worked through, not ignored (or it will rise up and bite you on the sit-down-upon when you least need or expect it, and at the most inappropriate of times, it will bite and it will bite hard!)

And Life goes on, the wheel goes around. An oldster who lived a long and happy life dies, a baby with an unlimited future arrives; leaves fall off the trees; buds of next year already forming. It is a never-ending-cycle, and we have choices how we see that cycle. Rainy Day likes to look for the Spring and the Summer, the rebirth, even while acknowledging the Fall and the Winter. The choice of how you see Life is entirely up to you.

Know this. Rainy Day values your presence in her life.

Rabindranath Tagore wrote, "Death is not extinguishing the light; it is only putting out the lamp because the dawn has come." Those are words Rainy Day has held onto, and found comfort in, while she grieves her loss. The dawn has come. It always comes.

Namaste.

Update on 12 Dec 12, Henry's bride of many years, Mary, is now reunited with him. She, too, died peacefully, in her sleep.


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