The Furious Spinner

Wow. This week has been the mother of all weeks. I'm not sure I can even remember everything that has happened. I was talking to people today at the memorial and I couldn't remember some of their names. I started to panic. I thought, I've known this person for years, but I can't find their name. Hope it was just the stress.

I'll write about the memorial later, or I won't. Right now I'm exhausted. The memorial was at five. That lasted until about 8:00 p.m. Then we went home. I grabbed a bit to eat. We ordered a couple of pizzas, bought beer, pop, and ice; then we went over to the house to feed the boys—they're men, of course, and I see them as men, but in my mind I call them the boys because I've known them since they were small—and to feed their families, girlfriend, friend, aunt, uncle. We stayed until just now, talking, telling stories. I held them in my heart as they talked. They are orphans now. I want them to know they can count on me if they need to.

They asked us to write something for the memorial, so we did. After the oldest son did a quick slideshow, he asked us to come up. I gave an introduction. I talked about the Celtic way of greeting, of saying good-night, and good-bye: like the blessings I've been posting here. Mario read the first stanza, then I read the second, and back and forth. As you can see, we used some of my Solstice blessing and modified it to the highlight the characteristics of our friend. Before we started reading, I said we were saying hello to Sheila, and good-bye. I was stunned at how much people really liked this. More and more I'm coming to believe we need to change the way we speak to one another—or at least greet one another with beauty and love and then leave one another with beauty and love.

See what you think.

For Sheila

May the beauty of the morning sun be upon you,
May the coolness of the morning breeze be upon you,
May the song of the robin be upon you,
May the tickle of the damp grass be upon you,
May the beauty of the morning sky be upon you.

May the grace of colorful hats be upon you,
The joy of solving crosswords be upon you,
The love of language be upon you,
The drama of a great entrance be upon you,
The bliss of music be upon you.

May the beauty of the magnolia tree be upon you,
May the beauty of English Daisies be upon you,
May the peace of the Columbia Gorge be upon you,
May the peace of the river be upon you.

May the east wind bring you thrift store bargains,
May the south wind bring you additions to your collections,
May the west wind bring you letters from old friends,
May the north wind bring you pots of hot tea.

Joy of night and day be yours.
Joy of sun and moon be yours.
Joy of men and women be yours.
Joy of every living creature be yours.

May the love and affection of the wildflowers be yours,
May the love and affection of your friends be yours,
May the love and affection of your grandchildren be yours,
May the love and affection of your sons be yours.

May you walk in Beauty before,
May you walk in Beauty behind,
May you walk in Beauty beside,
May you walk in Beauty above and below,
May you walk in Beauty with us always.

From Kim & Mario

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