where i've been and why i was there.
********
markers of grandparents :: george samaha moses and mary hamwi moses.
photo above :: courtesy of christine turnenius-bell.
it's just now hitting my heart, rimming my eyes with tears.
a reconnection with those who lived in my heart
although for a few years my mind held them at arm's length.
now they are alive in my marrow,
and i'll never turn my back ever again.
*
don't get me wrong.
don't feel sorry for me.
we had plenty of laughs thrown into the mix.
but, the heaviness will linger a long while.
of that i am sure.
*
my sweet sister of 40 years died quite tragically
and all too suddenly.
the most difficult part of this unexpected trip was
watching my brother not be able to just let go.
he prepared his wife's funeral program
as his grown children dug their mother's grave.
you see....
our family has been in this area for generations gone by.
i know this cemetery all too well,
helping my father set tombstones, making rubbings,
playing amongst the trees and hills when my help was not needed.
my great-grand-and-grands are resting here.
my mother and my father.
my uncles and aunts and cousins.
and one precious baby boy who left this sphere way too early.
and now.
one sweet angel who was the best wife and the bestest-ever mother
four kids would ever know.
the only way i could tolerate being in the place where so much sorrow was spilling over
was to walk about with my phone and snap photos....
*
i knelt at the priedieu that first evening,
saying my goodbye
and praying.
*
i feel such sorrow
yet
i feel such joy....
********
as his grown children dug their mother's grave.
you see....
our family has been in this area for generations gone by.
i know this cemetery all too well,
helping my father set tombstones, making rubbings,
playing amongst the trees and hills when my help was not needed.
my great-grand-and-grands are resting here.
my mother and my father.
my uncles and aunts and cousins.
and one precious baby boy who left this sphere way too early.
and now.
one sweet angel who was the best wife and the bestest-ever mother
four kids would ever know.
the only way i could tolerate being in the place where so much sorrow was spilling over
was to walk about with my phone and snap photos....
*
i knelt at the priedieu that first evening,
saying my goodbye
and praying.
*
i feel such sorrow
yet
i feel such joy....
********
