Seasons

I take this opportunity to celebrate two women I loved that have passed recently. Out of respect for both women and their families I choose to avoid information that may identify them though their loved ones will recognise them. I do hope that you recognise how lucky I am to have known them.

We live in part of the world in which we have four seasons. Sometimes they come in quietly. Sometimes they come in with a bang. Sometimes they seem to go back and forth.

Last weekend I was reminded that it is the same with life: that life’s seasons can cross over.

As we were driving to a family get-together in New-Brunswick last week-end we crossed both snow and people walking in shorts, on the same street, at the same time. I wish I could have taken a picture. The sight did make me chuckle.

The same evening we got together with cousins, at a funeral home for my aunt, one of my dad’s sister. Some had been planning to come to the village that weekend for the burial of another of Dad’s sisters who had passed away in March. Because of the harsh winter, the family had decided to have a celebration of life  and her burial in the spring. As we prepared for her celebration of life her sister passed away. The situation ended up having us come in to bury not one but two aunts. We found ourselves saying goodbye to two lovely women who left each their own mark on us.

These two very unique sisters had followed such different paths. One married younger and had 11 children, numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She had followed her husband who had to move for work and had done her utmost to care for her brood with whatever was available to her.

The other left the small town to move to the big city to work for Bell Canada. She was curious and a voracious reader. After a number of years in the big city, she started to travel. On one of her trips abroad she met the man she would marry. By then she was in her forties.

Both these women left us with a sense that they loved us, they wished for us and they prayed for us. Whether we were born to them or not, we were theirs because we were their baby brother’s.

They now join my dad and all their other siblings save one, as well as those who forged the path before them. They grow the circle of those we keep in our thoughts and for whom we are grateful; those who have gone before us and who have paved part of our path.

While together with siblings and cousins on Friday, one of my cousins had come in with her own grand-daughter. The baby was wearing a Christening gown. My   cousin wanted to show her siblings the gown the baby would wear for her baptism which was to be celebrated the day after the funeral. To watch my cousin at the funeral home for her mother, preparing for the celebration of her life, as she held her granddaughter preparing for the celebration that welcomed her was at once touching and a reminder of the seasons of life.

The juxtaposition of the looming of life and the end of life; the snow along the road and the lilacs in my yard at the end of the day; the farewell to two lovely aunts and the welcoming of a new life is simply a reminder that even in the sad moments in life there is still room for new beginnings and celebrations.

I was thankful that my cousins were able to say goodbye to their sweet mother and a loving aunt and then turn to the celebration of a new life.

I was also thankful to my cousin for allowing us to all get together in her yard, Saturday evening. It was heartwarming to share with others who loved these two great ladies who did their best on the paths they had chosen. In watching my siblings and my cousins, my thoughts went to those that had gone before us.

Watching my aunt’s great-grandchildren playing in the yard and laughing as grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins kept an eye on them had me thankful to those who have preceded us and had kept their eyes on us…

I hope that if your life is readjusting to a new reality, whatever it may be, the people recognise the loss and support you. If it is the case, I also hope they help you celebrate every time there is beauty and room for joy.