Sunday, May 31, 2009

June 2



It has been 48 years, yet I remember it as if it were today. Everything in my life is measured by that day. Everybody would say to me, the oldest living child"if there is anything that I can DO for you or the family" I finally said to someone"there is nothing you can DO but if you want, stay near to us and our fears and tears>" This, they couldn't do because they and we, live in a world where "fix it" is what we want to do. It's lilke the question I asked Dr. Warshaw when he told me Phyllis was dying "What am I going to tell our daughters that their mother is dying, because Heather would tell Jennifer "wait til Daddy gets home. He can fix anything." The question came from in my heart!

I listened last night to a young woman, whose husband had died, and her brother was killed. I felt tears well up in my eyes not of self pity, but rather that I could identify with her, and I was humbled that she felt she could talk to me about her brother's tragic death. Every June 2, I have sent red roses to mother and dad, because I understood the pain...this year I cannot, as mother and dad recently died...

The young lady's brother's name was DAVID, the same name as my hero, my older brother, DAVID, who died suddenly on June 2, 1961.

Friday, May 22, 2009

Memorial Day 2009

'FORGETTING TO REMEMBER... REMEMBERING TO FORGET...'

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

A DIFFERENT MOTHER'SDAY




I am an orphan! That reality is more evident as we prepare to observe Mother's Day. Since Phyllis died in 93, I haven't known how to observe this day with Heather and Jennifer. Until this year, I didn't know how they felt. Now I do. I was forced to preach my last Sermons on Mother's Day unable to tell the people I was resigning the next day. How my heart broke that day...
With Heather and Jennifer I have sought to honor Phyllis, and to give them something that would not take her place, but for them toremember...

This year, having lost both my father and mother I don't know to pause and remember. I aman orphan, as are my brothers and sister... There will be no flowers or lunches with them..in her honor I have chosen to give Mother's Day dinner to a family who can't afford one. But the reality is that they are no longer alive, and I miss them. Dad was my closest friend, and mother was my confidante and friend. They were wonderful parents, and I do not wishthem back...but I acknowledge that this year is different. I miss mother and Dad, and my heart is filled with gratitude for them both...