mom

I‘ve been meaning to write a few words about my mum for a while. It hasn’t been easy to confront. She died in February and it took a while…
We had a reception at my brother’s place a few days after mum died in February and the four of us with much difficulty said a few words. I knew it would be very difficult for me to speak so I borrowed some words from a couple of different passages. The first was from the Bhagavad-gita. My father was a Hindu and mum kept a copy of this book. It is very lengthy and it is a beautiful work – I just stole a few lines:

“The soul can never be cut to pieces by any weapon, nor burned by fire, nor moistened by water, nor withered by the wind.
It is said that the soul is invisible, inconceivable and immutable. Knowing this, you should not grieve for the body.”

Mum was always learning – taking courses – traveling – she lived life. I couldn’t read the whole poem but read a few lines from Dylan Thomas’s “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night”

“Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”

You can read the rest of it at Dylan Thomas

My sister said something about my mother that was quite profound, beautiful and a wonderful thing about her that we could all aspire to. Mum had amazing communication lines. I remember Niels telling me that mum would get several letters a day in the mail sometimes when she lived in Denmark. My memories of her when I was very little were of her in the evenings sitting on the couch writing letters to friends and family. When she got email she was thrilled.

Gwen pointed out that mum never waited for someone else to contact her or start the conversation. She would call or write you first (needless to say she was happy when you wrote or emailed or called back). So, Gwen’s invitation at the ceremony was that people not wait for someone to call or write them but to start the communication themselves. It’s tough in our busy lives but try it. Find someone that you’d like to be in communication with and write or email or call – don’t wait for them.

Keep well – write me any time.

Martin

Mom’s Reception

My Mother