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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