Yesterday marked the end of eleven months of mourning, traditionally the time to conclude the daily recitation of Kaddish. Every day since the death and burial that altered the life of my family, my sons have recited that prayer in the presence of a congregation.
After repeating Kaddish like a second heart-beat for eleven months, I imagine not doing so must leave them with an eerie silence. For the next month, we'll all be in a heightened state of awareness. In a strange kind of count-down, we're each recounting what we were doing last year at this time when he was still with us, until the anniversary of his death, when he was not.
The Jewish mourning prayer of Kaddish glorifies the name of the ONE rather than that of the departed. In the absence of the person who was once so physically here and then so unalterably disappeared, trying to grasp the emptiness can feel as unstable as the ground beneath rupturing into a deep chasm.
Acknowledging the Ultimate in a ritualized prayer can be an externalized way to maintain balance - not falling into the abyss because the communal safety net keeps one standing. As the first year starts coming round, instead of continuing to observe the absence of the departed one in the world 'out there,' a shift begins. Although longing may still exist - at times acutely so, being aware of the sacred Ultimate can offer an internal resting place for the one no longer in this world.
According to tradition, on the first 'Yahrzeit' or anniversary of the death, the Kaddish is recited once again and then on every anniversary thereafter, for as long as the mourners are alive. The public recitation of the Kaddish glorifies the Eternal in outward expression.
As Kaddish magnifies the Divine, the months immersed in contemplation of the inevitability of death and transformation yield to an inward stability, even in a world of impermanence. The sheltering heart can hold and sustain the Love that remains.
As expressed in the beautiful and familiar words of the Song of Songs (8:6-7) "Set me as a seal upon your heart...for Love is as strong as Death...Love is a "divine flame ...many waters can not quench Love, neither can floods drown it." (Song of Songs, 8:6-7)
Friday, June 1, 2012
Monday, April 9, 2012
LOVE SPRINGS ETERNAL
Passover - Easter - Eostre - the rebirth of Spring. How naturally the season lends itself to the perception of rebirth and renewal. In contrast, during the brittle days of winter, it's difficult to perceive any movement at all, the contraction can be so tight.
During this past winter of long dark nights, something was surely happening. As morning came, I knew the work had been arduous, but didn't know what had been done. During the day, pangs of longing arose like mist. A phrase uttered from my mouth, "I miss him so much," had the power to undo me. Even now, I don't know whether to use the past or present tense. The two fuse together. Past is present.
Memory continues to play episodes from my lost love and marriage. From the first encounter on a bus to the final goodbye in a cath unit, the scenes surface randomly, like beads that had been scattered when the thread uniting us broke apart.
Most of the dreams have been as faint as gossamer. Night after night I submerged in the deep underworld and when I awoke, grasping, I came up with nothing at all. Some mornings I felt caught in a web, as if I were being pulled back under. I dream he is here. What joy! I remember he is gone. What pain! The slow process of adjustment is underway.
I've never used a rosary, but this winter it seemed my psyche was trying to present one for me. Assembled from memories and dreams, the pieces of my life somehow seek to be reordered, strung back onto one unified thread. I've been moving forward in a kind of prayerful trance - touching and feeling my way from one bead of memory to another.
In December during the long nights following the winter solstice, our family celebrated his 69th birthday, the first one he was not alive to celebrate. As a tribute for the occasion, our daughter bought a gardenia tree, in memory of planting a tree with him as a young child. I planted it in front of our home and continued to water and watch it throughout the winter.
Then spring arrived and on the very first day of Passover, the first blossom opened - fresh and exultant. His palpable absence at the Seder table the night before was drawn within this most fragrant and tender token of Beauty, a perfect symbol of rebirth and hope.
There's no need for me to resort to superstition or read more into the timing than what I've already suggested. Love doesn't die, nor does Beauty. Both are eternally interwoven, embedded in our world and deep within each of us. As I personally transition from winter to spring, I take note of the beautiful renewal of nature around me and the voice within me that echoes in my dreams: "Love Forever."
Saturday, January 14, 2012
HUMBLE CONFIDENCE
What essential qualities characterize you or me or those we love? As we each live out the uniqueness of our own individual nature, we eventually become representatives of those qualities, vivid living examples of how they manifest in form.
Recently I met with a group of my treasured women friends that have been gathering monthly for well over a decade. As agents of change for holistic wellness, we have each contributed our own particular skills and perspectives to each other and to those we serve. In the first step of the process of Beginning Anew, we took turns thoughtfully appreciating and articulating what each brought to the group.
In a poetic description, one described the group as a crown of jewels.
Another called it a Council of Mothers. In a moment of inspiration, one began to name each of us sitting on that Council with a defining quality: Mother Ritual, Mother Soul, Mother Clarity, Mother Compassion, Mother Qi, Mother Roots, Mother Ambassador, Mother Gentle, Mother Fertility, Mother Mother.
Although no one had thought to distill our essences in such a way before, it seemed perfectly fitting as soon as it had been done. We each contribute our own particular jewel within the collective crown of our gathered circle. Once we are gone, those that remember us carry the memory of our particular contribution to the whole.
Six months now since his passing, I continue to reflect on the defining qualities of my longtime husband and partner. As I recall his surefooted presence on this earth, one quality that stands out for me was his consistent confidence. Just as the structure of the word indicates, (con - with, fid - faith), he lived with faith, trusting in his perceptions and abilities and in the rightness of life as it unfolded before him.
He trusted that the beauty and intelligence of the universe provide an infinite source of perception and creativity. He perceived the subtleties of space, color and dimension and was attentive to the things that he could see and imagine, both real and yet to be realized. He trusted his mind and his hands that built, dug, painted, plastered, scraped, shaped, fixed & finessed countless things to transform material in creative ways.
As I reflect on how he lived his life - with eyes open, hands-on and an unwavering sense of inner guidance and intuition, I realize how much his quality of confidence has been a touchstone for me. But since confidence sometimes manifests as offensive arrogance, I take special note of the way his confidence was tempered by his humility. Yes, that was yet another remarkable quality he embodied: humility!
As with the word confidence, the origin of the word humility is telling, derived as it is from the Latin word "humus", the dark, decomposed, fertile earth. One who stays in touch with our transitory earthly nature - "from dust we come and to dust we shall return" - remains humble. He certainly was.
Humble confidence. Those essential qualities are part of his precious legacy to me and to our children. We were privileged to have experienced his living demonstration of them over several decades. Now, to honor his memory, I share them here with you. May his memory be a blessing and may we also be worthy to live with humble confidence.
Recently I met with a group of my treasured women friends that have been gathering monthly for well over a decade. As agents of change for holistic wellness, we have each contributed our own particular skills and perspectives to each other and to those we serve. In the first step of the process of Beginning Anew, we took turns thoughtfully appreciating and articulating what each brought to the group.
In a poetic description, one described the group as a crown of jewels.
Another called it a Council of Mothers. In a moment of inspiration, one began to name each of us sitting on that Council with a defining quality: Mother Ritual, Mother Soul, Mother Clarity, Mother Compassion, Mother Qi, Mother Roots, Mother Ambassador, Mother Gentle, Mother Fertility, Mother Mother.
Although no one had thought to distill our essences in such a way before, it seemed perfectly fitting as soon as it had been done. We each contribute our own particular jewel within the collective crown of our gathered circle. Once we are gone, those that remember us carry the memory of our particular contribution to the whole.
Six months now since his passing, I continue to reflect on the defining qualities of my longtime husband and partner. As I recall his surefooted presence on this earth, one quality that stands out for me was his consistent confidence. Just as the structure of the word indicates, (con - with, fid - faith), he lived with faith, trusting in his perceptions and abilities and in the rightness of life as it unfolded before him.
He trusted that the beauty and intelligence of the universe provide an infinite source of perception and creativity. He perceived the subtleties of space, color and dimension and was attentive to the things that he could see and imagine, both real and yet to be realized. He trusted his mind and his hands that built, dug, painted, plastered, scraped, shaped, fixed & finessed countless things to transform material in creative ways.
As I reflect on how he lived his life - with eyes open, hands-on and an unwavering sense of inner guidance and intuition, I realize how much his quality of confidence has been a touchstone for me. But since confidence sometimes manifests as offensive arrogance, I take special note of the way his confidence was tempered by his humility. Yes, that was yet another remarkable quality he embodied: humility!
As with the word confidence, the origin of the word humility is telling, derived as it is from the Latin word "humus", the dark, decomposed, fertile earth. One who stays in touch with our transitory earthly nature - "from dust we come and to dust we shall return" - remains humble. He certainly was.
Humble confidence. Those essential qualities are part of his precious legacy to me and to our children. We were privileged to have experienced his living demonstration of them over several decades. Now, to honor his memory, I share them here with you. May his memory be a blessing and may we also be worthy to live with humble confidence.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
The Power of the Day
What a difference a day makes... I knew it was coming, December 4th, my wedding anniversary. The day before, I was peaceful and quiet, contemplating that as long as I'm alive, joy is always possible. Then the actual day came, advancing each hour like a team of horses in a funeral procession, steadily treading against my heart until there was no holding back the grief and it poured out all over again.
In the tradition of my Jewish heritage, days have a power of their own. From my earliest recollections, the holy days of Sabbath and the festivals were charged with a palpable quality of sanctity and significance. About Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, for example, there was even an argument among the ancient Rabbis. Some held that the day itself had the power to atone for one's sins, while others maintained that people must initiate their own repentance to tap into that power.
Of course, it's not just the Jewish tradition that transforms particular days into extraordinary ones. Festive days and annual celebrations are hallmarks of every culture. Just as the seasons cycle around from solstice to equinox to solstice and around again, so do we move around the calendar of days, collectively as cultures with shared history and individually as people with our own personal stories.
Christmas, Passover, Veteran's Day, the Fourth of July...each day holds the weight of tradition for the group that identifies with it. Birthdays, anniversaries and other noteworthy events... each person has those special days that are laden with personal significance. Every time one of those days cycles around, the memory of previous times is touched upon again and yet another layer of memory is laid down, imprinting layer upon layer of memory into the richly textured fabric of one's life. .
So my anniversary came and with it, the floodgates of grief. Holidays came and will come and then his birthday and the new year, all firsts that touch upon memories of times that were so different. Despite ample awareness of how difficult these "firsts" are reported to be, I was taken by surprise with the power of the day. Knowledge of the process doesn't compare or even prepare for the actual experience. Grief has its own way and the power of the day helps it do what it must do.
In the tradition of my Jewish heritage, days have a power of their own. From my earliest recollections, the holy days of Sabbath and the festivals were charged with a palpable quality of sanctity and significance. About Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, for example, there was even an argument among the ancient Rabbis. Some held that the day itself had the power to atone for one's sins, while others maintained that people must initiate their own repentance to tap into that power.
Of course, it's not just the Jewish tradition that transforms particular days into extraordinary ones. Festive days and annual celebrations are hallmarks of every culture. Just as the seasons cycle around from solstice to equinox to solstice and around again, so do we move around the calendar of days, collectively as cultures with shared history and individually as people with our own personal stories.
Christmas, Passover, Veteran's Day, the Fourth of July...each day holds the weight of tradition for the group that identifies with it. Birthdays, anniversaries and other noteworthy events... each person has those special days that are laden with personal significance. Every time one of those days cycles around, the memory of previous times is touched upon again and yet another layer of memory is laid down, imprinting layer upon layer of memory into the richly textured fabric of one's life. .
So my anniversary came and with it, the floodgates of grief. Holidays came and will come and then his birthday and the new year, all firsts that touch upon memories of times that were so different. Despite ample awareness of how difficult these "firsts" are reported to be, I was taken by surprise with the power of the day. Knowledge of the process doesn't compare or even prepare for the actual experience. Grief has its own way and the power of the day helps it do what it must do.
Monday, October 31, 2011
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
This week my seven-year old granddaughters came to my house for a sleepover. The two cousins had a lot to twitter about (in the old style of twittering) since they both have a "crush" on the same boy. Wow, I wondered, isn't seven kind of young to be so focused on one person?! When I mentioned their precociousness to one of their Mom's, she said she had already been asked when and how she "knew" that Daddy was the one she wanted to marry.
Questions like that comes up in therapy from time to time: how do I know he or she is "the one?" New relationships often prompt that kind of inquiry. Sometimes it happens once the relationship is more progressed: did I make the right choice? Is he or she really the soul mate I was destined for or am I supposed to be with someone else?
The curiosity of my little granddaughters is light and innocent, like their giggles and secrets. But the questions raised in therapy about "the one" can be agonizing. How indeed do we know whether we're on track or not? Disconnected from intuition and inner guidance, we can flounder and lose our way.
I've lived both with intuition and with floundering. We probably all have. When people used to ask my husband and me how we first met, we each would tell the same story differently. My story was more factual. His went straight to the heart.
It was late in August, 1967. I had just gotten on a bus heading west on Armitage Avenue, on my way back from a conference on "new politics" in downtown Chicago. While paying my fare, I looked around and saw the usual neighborhood types, mostly Hispanic women with kids and a few assorted men. A college student type was seated towards the back by a window, reading a book. That was an unusual sight in this ghetto.
I sat down by the driver, close to the door, absorbed in my own thoughts. When I began to feel what the controversial researcher Rupert Sheldrake calls "the staring effect," I looked up to see two penetrating eyes take cover behind the book. The book was Siddhartha, by Herman Hesse.
And this is the way my husband Tom used to tell the story: He was sitting on a bus alone when a young woman (that would be me) got on. Aside from the driver, they were the only two people on the bus. She was the only one he could see. (He only had eyes for me).
As it happened, we got off the bus at the same stop: Sheffield and Armitage. We both waited for the light to change. We were both heading in the same direction.
Could it be as simple as Malcolm Gladwell suggests in his book Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking? In the first two seconds of looking - in a single glance - he knew! Me, it took longer. We crossed the street together. I spoke first. I asked if he lived in the neighborhood (he did). He told me he was in graduate school at the Art Institute of Chicago. I told him my sister was a student there too. We talked. We talked some more. He asked my name. I asked his. He said Tom Seghi. In my mind I heard the words, "Laya Seghi." It sounded right to me.
The rest of our story evolved. I floundered and I knew or I knew and I floundered. It took me three decades before I told him about hearing that inner voice on our very first encounter. (The "why" for that is a whole different story.) I preferred hearing him tell about meeting the "love of his life." Looking back now, this chapter of our story concluded, I marvel at his vision and my inner voice and at the power of first impressions. We both knew!
Saturday, October 8, 2011
HEART CONNECTIONS & DISCONNECTIONS
For the last couple of months, I've been thinking about connections. The person I've been closest to - my main connection - died, so I'm paying attention. Death might seem to be the big disconnect, but I'm sensing that's not necessarily so. Besides my connection to my now dead husband Tom, I've been noticing connections in general: people I thought I was connected to that seem to have fallen away and others with whom the connection wasn't obvious suddenly showing up, as if to confirm that yes, there is indeed a connection. The web of interconnections seems at once fragile and resilient.
The world-wide web is a technical reflection of the interconnectedness I'm talking about. I can sit down to share my thoughts and feelings in a blog like this and within minutes, people with whom I'm connected can receive that message in their inbox. As I've been processing my grief and new circumstances, I've used the internet and my writing as a way to stay connected and to reach out for even further connection.
But it doesn't always work that way. My effort to connect can sometimes produce a reverse effect. For example, I got the equivalent of a slap in the face when someone I'd known for decades and thought of as a friend responded with a "Fu*k Your Blog!" subject heading. She took offense that I had communicated about Tom's death in a public format rather than directly to her. Her extreme response was the ultimate fulfillment of my long-held fear of negative judgment for putting myself 'out there' in writing. Ironically, she presented me with a gift I couldn't have received otherwise. Not only did her response clue me in to the quality of our friendship, but it helped me clarify that I write because I feel called to do so, whether others like it or not.
Nevertheless, the disconnect there and the surprisingly strong connections that emerged elsewhere since Tom died suggest to me that his death created an almost electrical disturbance in the field, as if lightning had struck.
As often happens, my inner thoughts were mirrored in my outer world. My personal experiences of connections/disconnections were being played out in a series of electrical problems that required my attention. While preparing to sell the RV that Tom and I traveled in together, I was faced with a generator that wouldn't start, fuses that blew, and an electrical short circuit in the garage. Disconnections.
Once all that was sorted out (believe me, I am unskilled and ill prepared to deal with any of it!), my electrical stove started acting up. Stove top burners that I turned to the off position wouldn't turn off while the oven that I didn't turn on turned on by itself. The problem climaxed with smoke and sparking from the control panel. Finally a technician came to diagnose the problem and declared the stove beyond repair, in other words, kaput.
Dealing with these recent events, I consider that the basic facts of electricity and human connection may be similar: Particles with electric charge interact with each other through the electromagnetic force, creating electric fields and when they are in motion, magnetic fields. The electric fields tend to result in a repulsive force between particles with charges of the same sign, and an attractive force between charges of opposite sign. (The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.)
To answer that question, I look to the physical and spiritual heart. The heart is the physical organ that transmits the strongest electromagnetic frequency in the body and also the organ that has long been considered the source of compassion and wisdom. When the mind is attuned to the heart, there is a measurable state of coherence that reduces stress and amplifies joy. It's the resonance of the heart that allows for personal connection. See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pp-r_f8-qz8&feature=player_embedded
Because I'm familiar with the book The HeartMath Solution: The Institute of HeartMath's Revolutionary Program for Engaging the Power of the Heart's Intelligence by Doc Lew Childre, Howard Martin and Donna Beech (HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. 1999), I believe that the parallel of electricity and human connections is actually more than a metaphor. For almost two decades, Heart Math research has contributed to our knowledge of stress, health and the emotional information encoded in the magnetic field radiated by the heart.
As described in a Heart Math clip on YouTube:
"The human heart emits the strongest electromagnetic field in our body. This electromagnetic field envelops the entire body extending out in all directions, and it can be measured up to several feet outside of the body. Research from the Institute of HeartMath shows that this emotional information is encoded in this energetic field. HeartMath researchers have also seen that as we consciously focus on feeling a positive emotion - such as care, appreciation, compassion or love - it has a beneficial effect on our own health and well-being, and can have a positive affect on those around us."
[To download an e-book with their research findings, see: http://www.heartmath.org/research/science-of-the-heart/introduction.html]
Is it any surprise that tuning in to the positive emotions of gratitude. compassion and love can establish that heart connection? When we tune in deeply, we can experience our interconnectedness, not only with humans but with the planet - humans as well as animals, plants and minerals. The Beatles boiled it down to the ultimate: Sing it Beatles...
The world-wide web is a technical reflection of the interconnectedness I'm talking about. I can sit down to share my thoughts and feelings in a blog like this and within minutes, people with whom I'm connected can receive that message in their inbox. As I've been processing my grief and new circumstances, I've used the internet and my writing as a way to stay connected and to reach out for even further connection.
But it doesn't always work that way. My effort to connect can sometimes produce a reverse effect. For example, I got the equivalent of a slap in the face when someone I'd known for decades and thought of as a friend responded with a "Fu*k Your Blog!" subject heading. She took offense that I had communicated about Tom's death in a public format rather than directly to her. Her extreme response was the ultimate fulfillment of my long-held fear of negative judgment for putting myself 'out there' in writing. Ironically, she presented me with a gift I couldn't have received otherwise. Not only did her response clue me in to the quality of our friendship, but it helped me clarify that I write because I feel called to do so, whether others like it or not.
Nevertheless, the disconnect there and the surprisingly strong connections that emerged elsewhere since Tom died suggest to me that his death created an almost electrical disturbance in the field, as if lightning had struck.
As often happens, my inner thoughts were mirrored in my outer world. My personal experiences of connections/disconnections were being played out in a series of electrical problems that required my attention. While preparing to sell the RV that Tom and I traveled in together, I was faced with a generator that wouldn't start, fuses that blew, and an electrical short circuit in the garage. Disconnections.
Once all that was sorted out (believe me, I am unskilled and ill prepared to deal with any of it!), my electrical stove started acting up. Stove top burners that I turned to the off position wouldn't turn off while the oven that I didn't turn on turned on by itself. The problem climaxed with smoke and sparking from the control panel. Finally a technician came to diagnose the problem and declared the stove beyond repair, in other words, kaput.
Dealing with these recent events, I consider that the basic facts of electricity and human connection may be similar: Particles with electric charge interact with each other through the electromagnetic force, creating electric fields and when they are in motion, magnetic fields. The electric fields tend to result in a repulsive force between particles with charges of the same sign, and an attractive force between charges of opposite sign. (The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.)
To answer that question, I look to the physical and spiritual heart. The heart is the physical organ that transmits the strongest electromagnetic frequency in the body and also the organ that has long been considered the source of compassion and wisdom. When the mind is attuned to the heart, there is a measurable state of coherence that reduces stress and amplifies joy. It's the resonance of the heart that allows for personal connection. See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pp-r_f8-qz8&feature=player_embedded
Because I'm familiar with the book The HeartMath Solution: The Institute of HeartMath's Revolutionary Program for Engaging the Power of the Heart's Intelligence by Doc Lew Childre, Howard Martin and Donna Beech (HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. 1999), I believe that the parallel of electricity and human connections is actually more than a metaphor. For almost two decades, Heart Math research has contributed to our knowledge of stress, health and the emotional information encoded in the magnetic field radiated by the heart.
As described in a Heart Math clip on YouTube:
"The human heart emits the strongest electromagnetic field in our body. This electromagnetic field envelops the entire body extending out in all directions, and it can be measured up to several feet outside of the body. Research from the Institute of HeartMath shows that this emotional information is encoded in this energetic field. HeartMath researchers have also seen that as we consciously focus on feeling a positive emotion - such as care, appreciation, compassion or love - it has a beneficial effect on our own health and well-being, and can have a positive affect on those around us."
[To download an e-book with their research findings, see: http://www.heartmath.org/research/science-of-the-heart/introduction.html]
Is it any surprise that tuning in to the positive emotions of gratitude. compassion and love can establish that heart connection? When we tune in deeply, we can experience our interconnectedness, not only with humans but with the planet - humans as well as animals, plants and minerals. The Beatles boiled it down to the ultimate: Sing it Beatles...
All you need is love. All you need is love.
All you need is love, love. Love is all you need.
All you need is love (All together, now!) All you need is love. (Everybody!)
All you need is love, love. Love is all you need (love is all you need).Saturday, September 10, 2011
No Heart Attack Here!
Clients that frequented my psychotherapy office on Rivo Alto Drive in Miami Beach may remember this drawing that hung on my wall for years. It was such a big, juicy and happy heart that Tom drew - full of life and color. I loved it and thought it conveyed the kind of practice I wanted to offer: vibrant, unique and totally present.
We sold our house (with office & studio) on Miami Beach in May 2010, ready to hit the road as "modern day nomads." Along with most of Tom's other drawings and paintings, that happy heart was packed away in storage. When we finally returned to Florida toward the end of the year, we moved into a house in Hollywood and relocated our storage to a nearby office for me with a studio for Tom, side by side, just the way we liked it.
Since Tom's death on July 10th, exactly two months now, a seemingly endless stream of decisions have had to be made. Moving out of that office/studio by the end of August was a recent one. The paintings, drawings, memorabilia...where would it all go?! Physically and emotionally arduous, this was the first major move I experienced without Tom there to master-mind it.
Yet somehow Tom's "can do" confidence for undertaking apparently overwhelming tasks must have been transmitted to my children and the two Daniels that showed up to help get the job done. The sorting, cataloging and photographing of Tom's work is still not complete, but ... I found the heart I was looking for again!
Take a closer look. I did. There on the drawing, to my amazement, I see scribbled in Tom's large script: "No heart attack here!" WOW...that makes my heart beat faster. What a message!
The physical, temporal heart of his that suffered a massive heart attack two months ago is in direct contrast with that ideal heart in the drawing, the primal heart that he embodied while he was here and that he left us as a guide.
Once again, I draw strength from the poignant words of Irish poet and philosopher John O'Donohue (see http://www.johnodonohue.com/memoriam) in an excerpt from his beautiful poem "On the Death of the Beloved":
The physical, temporal heart of his that suffered a massive heart attack two months ago is in direct contrast with that ideal heart in the drawing, the primal heart that he embodied while he was here and that he left us as a guide.
Once again, I draw strength from the poignant words of Irish poet and philosopher John O'Donohue (see http://www.johnodonohue.com/memoriam) in an excerpt from his beautiful poem "On the Death of the Beloved":
May this dark grief flower with hope
In every heart that loves you.
May you continue to inspire us:
To enter each day with a generous heart.
To serve the call of courage and love...
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