Thursday, August 21, 2014

A prayer

I will not die this way.

I'm told that my aunt died in her apartment while she was up and around in one of the rooms.  The apartment manager began to wonder why she hadn't picked up her main in a few days.  Now we're trying to figure out how to get that room cleaned before Mom goes to visit.  This is a nasty business about a woman who did not deserve this end.

I'm not even sure what to write here, other than my kith and kin will not have to do this for me, if I have any say in the matter.  Life is more than being discovered days later.



Carpe diem.  Seize your life and don't let go.  Tempus fugit.  Better this way, which was how she lived her life:


As I went down in the river to pray
Studying about that good old way
And who shall wear the starry crown
Good Lord, show me the way

O sisters let's go down,
Let's go down, come on down,
O sisters let's go down,
Down in the river to pray

As I went down in the river to pray
Studying about that good old way
And who shall wear the robe and crown
Good Lord, show me the way

O brothers let's go down,
Let's go down, come on down,
Come on brothers let's go down,
Down in the river to pray

As I went down in the river to pray
Studying about that good old way
And who shall wear the starry crown
Good Lord, show me the way

O sinners let's go down,
Let's go down, come on down,
O sinners let's go down,
Down in the river to pray

As I went down in the river to pray
Studying about that good old way
And who shall wear the robe and crown
Good Lord, show me the way
LORD, show me the way, for I will not willingly take that way.  But if this be Thy will, praise be to The in all Thy works.

Amen.

15 comments:

  1. I'm sorry for your loss.

    gfa

    ReplyDelete
  2. Condolences.

    There are companies that specialize in cleaning this kind of thing up. I don't know what you'd search for under the yellow pages, though.

    ReplyDelete
  3. A sad day for you, I am sending good thoughts your way. May your Aunt rest in peace, and you keep good memories of her life in mind.

    ReplyDelete
  4. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I will try this again, with tears in my eyes.

    I am so sorry to hear this, dear Ted. If I could take it away, I would, but I am here, we are here, if you need to talk. For now, I can only offer words.

    In the long, sleepless watches of the night,
    A gentle face--the face of one long dead--
    Looks at me from the wall, where round its head
    The night-lamp casts a halo of pale light.
    Here in this room she died, and soul more white
    Never through martyrdom of fire was led
    To its repose; nor can in books be read
    The legend of a life more benedight.
    There is a mountain in the distant West
    That, sun-defying, in its deep ravines
    Displays a cross of snow upon its side.
    Such is the cross I wear upon my breast
    These eighteen years, through all the changing scenes
    And seasons, changeless since the day she died.
    Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

    ReplyDelete
  7. Brigid, that's beautiful.

    Thank you everybody.

    ReplyDelete
  8. So sorry to hear of your Aunt's departure from life.

    They all live on, in a very real way, as long as we remember them and think good thoughts of them.

    I hope you will find some comfort with time. It is a hard thing to watch that generation go. They were, they truly were, the greatest generation. With hope, we have learned some of the lessons their example taught. You strike me as one who has.

    Fair Winds, Following Seas and a Safe Port,

    Cap'n Jan

    ReplyDelete

Remember your manners when you post. Anonymous comments are not allowed because of the plague of spam comments.