Grief Comes In Waves

E131: At the hour of our death

Pray for us now and at the hour of our death.

Some observations from this past week:

Grief is circular

It comes crashing, like waves hitting the beach. Sometimes it pounds, incessantly. At other times it just floats in, lapping around one’s ankles like an ever-present gentle lull.

One does not get over it. One learns to come to terms with it.

And then all it takes is a glimpse of a handkerchief or you find yourself reaching for a tub of Ensure on the grocery shelf and you are back to square one.

Each of us is so complex

My mother is more than my mother.

She is also a sister, a missed neighbor, a beloved sister-in-law, a worker, a fellow worshipper, an adored Avo, a close friend. My multi-matrixed mother. Everyone is missing her. Terribly. And for different reasons.

It is only in death that we get to see the many dimensions of each person, the many relationships they are able to hold in parallel, while still ensuring you feel like a special part of their life.

“At the hour of our death”

That one phrase that has tripped off the end of my tongue, so blithely since I have been a toddler old enough to say the Holy Mary, now carries so much extra weight and significance.

My mother always prayed for a good death. She had four of her daughters holding her hands. She was not alone as her spirit moved from one realm to the next.

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My mother had a great tradition of praying for the Holy Souls. If that speaks to your practice of faith it would be a wonderful way to honour her.

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Thank you for being part of Tribe Tilt! And welcome if you have recently joined. We believe we can make a difference to the people and places that are precious to us - that we have hope and agency within our own lives that ripples through to others.

Stay healthy. From there all else becomes possible. Treat your health as the precious resource it is.

Until next week,
Karena

Dateline: Goa, India

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