Sadly, a great lady passed away on November 15th--my grandmother. You'll notice her acknowledged in my books and a book in the middle grade series, Bryna's Dream, is a fiction based on a telling of my grandmother's story of her own mother's treacherous journey to America from a small Ukranian village, Polonya, which sadly, was destroyed during the Nazi invasion.
When someone we love passes away, like Tennyson' s In Memoriam, there is no telling how many, many lives have been, and will continue to be, affected by the one seemingly lost. As I consider this, I don't feel quite as lonely. A dear friend of mine lost her own mom one week before my grandmother's passing. We spoke this morning and as we discussed my friend's son, I began to quote one of my grandmother's sayings about the wheel of fortune sometimes getting stuck in the mud. My friend reminded me I had told her this before, many years ago, during a trying time in her life, and she never forgot it because it offered a hopeful future, which eventually came true. Who knows how many others have been indirectly influenced by my grandmother, carrying pieces of her wit wisdom with them as they journey forward? I'd like to believe that number is many.
My grandmother, "Grams", was the oral historian for our family for over 70 years. Her stories brought those people long past to life for not just my immediate family, but for generations of extended family. Her influence, when multiplied by those factors, seems to stretch into infinity...and go beyond the limits of time and space to the raw, stringy edges of the universe.
So as I write this one and only entry for November, a month of immense difficulty, hardship, and heartache, I remember fondly my grandmother and imagine with joy how children I have yet to meet will be referring to her as if a living and breathing person.
May we all live life with the same fullness, with the same joy, and with the same ability to see the positivity in the world around us.
Grandma, you are "such a person". Thank you for those precious gifts.....
Until next time--have a very happy Thanksgiving.
Rebecca
When someone we love passes away, like Tennyson' s In Memoriam, there is no telling how many, many lives have been, and will continue to be, affected by the one seemingly lost. As I consider this, I don't feel quite as lonely. A dear friend of mine lost her own mom one week before my grandmother's passing. We spoke this morning and as we discussed my friend's son, I began to quote one of my grandmother's sayings about the wheel of fortune sometimes getting stuck in the mud. My friend reminded me I had told her this before, many years ago, during a trying time in her life, and she never forgot it because it offered a hopeful future, which eventually came true. Who knows how many others have been indirectly influenced by my grandmother, carrying pieces of her wit wisdom with them as they journey forward? I'd like to believe that number is many.
My grandmother, "Grams", was the oral historian for our family for over 70 years. Her stories brought those people long past to life for not just my immediate family, but for generations of extended family. Her influence, when multiplied by those factors, seems to stretch into infinity...and go beyond the limits of time and space to the raw, stringy edges of the universe.
So as I write this one and only entry for November, a month of immense difficulty, hardship, and heartache, I remember fondly my grandmother and imagine with joy how children I have yet to meet will be referring to her as if a living and breathing person.
May we all live life with the same fullness, with the same joy, and with the same ability to see the positivity in the world around us.
Grandma, you are "such a person". Thank you for those precious gifts.....
Until next time--have a very happy Thanksgiving.
Rebecca
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