Sunday, June 15, 2008

Rest in Peace - A Weekend of Loss

On Friday I came home to learn Tim Russert died suddenly at his desk that afternoon. No warning - a heart attack. An amazing journalist and human being was gone at the age of 58.

This afternoon I learned that Maya's Granny passed away at 2:30 this morning also from a heart attack. MG had been ill in recent weeks still it was shocking to drop by her site to see if there was an update from her family - to learn the news. MG was a blogger with wit, intelligence, humor and definite points of view to share. She will be missed by many.

My thoughts are with the Russert Family and MG's family as they begin to travel the path of loss and mourning. Life is so fleeting - we are here and then we are gone. I believe there is more to this universe than what we see with our eyes. I know our spirits go on. But oh, it is so lonely and hard without those we love on this earth in our arms.


Notes From the Other Side


I divested myself of despair
and fear when I came here.

Now there is no more catching
one's own eye in the mirror,

there are no bad books, no plastic,
no insurance premiums, and of course

no illness. Contrition
does not exist, nor gnashing

of teeth. No one howls as the first
clod of earth hits the casket.

The poor we no longer have with us.
Our calm hearts strike only the hour,

and God, as promised, proves
to be mercy clothed in light.

Jane Kenyon

5 comments:

  1. we, too, are so saddened by tim russsert's death and have watched some remarkable memorial coverage honoring him since friday evening. he was our favorite journalist and only one of a few who truly exhibited integrity and fairness in his work. i loved watching his interviews. his death really points out how tentative life is. and, of course, you know that from your own very personal experience.

    so sorry about the loss of your blogger friend.

    loss is hard...period. today i cried when i watched brokaw host a memorial to tim russert during today's "meet the press" time slot. it is hard even when it is less personal.

    wasn't kenyon wonderful? i miss her. her death, as told by don hall in several of his books, reduced me to tears as well. she was here in seattle at fred hutchinson having treatment before she died, a period of their life together which don writes about in pain so primitive it was palpable. if you have not read these books you might want to at some point along the way.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Even if we believe in an afterlife, we still lose those people to hug and hear their voices. It's hard and although it seemed it was inevitable with the decline that her daughter Julie has been writing about, it was still hard to see that the treatment just didn't work for her. Blogging becomes a community and we do get to feeling we know the people whose words we read, whose pictures we see.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh dear you,
    I ask my self, as my daugther told me: (Working in Hong Kong)
    In the Chines year of the Rat, you will be happy to survive.

    I do think you have had too much in the past years. Simply too much.

    What I've learned: Talk about it. Don't fence your self in. Talk - talk.
    Oh - it's hard - but one tiny grain away a day makes it better next day.

    May be?
    I do not know.

    Oh, did I comment?
    Sorry, still in my deep thoughts.

    btw. Arriving O'Hare on July 31.
    For my visit to my Son in SW MI.
    Leaving on Aug 11. Might go around Michigan Lake. Don't know yet.
    Would be nice to have a Lunch with you. ??

    ReplyDelete
  4. What a testament to both of them that from their safe little havens they could reach out and touch so many people, such strangers they would never meet, brave enough to believe what they have to see might be of worth, willing to share from their open hearts...as do you!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I was very very saddened by Tim Russerts death, too...This, on top of one of my dearest friends dying a few weeks ago....I have been very very teary, to say the least. That's okay. I think it's GOOD to cry, but I am finding a deep sadness has come over me and I just have to wade through it.

    Tim Russert was such a rare man in the world of Journalism today...this is a great loss to all of us because of his very solid integrity...hard to come by these days. The World is in such a terrible way these days; Our country is too....A person of the Caliber of Tim Russert will be sorely missed in the madness of these times. He was a voice of samity.

    Indeed, Suzann....Our Birthdays are almost upon us!

    ReplyDelete