May 15, 2022

  Living in Unconditional Love (62) 

“Love flows from God to humans without effort: 

As a bird glides through the air without moving its wings- 

Thus, they go wherever they wish united in body and soul, 

Yet separate in form.” 

–Mechtild of Magdeburg 

 

My wife Eileen died from esophageal cancer in February 2020 one year after being diagnosed, 60 years to the day that we met on Long Island. Then my brother Tom became ill, and I spent a total of six weeks being with him in Ohio, but he died in October 2020. My sister-in-law Sue Mahoney died from Covid-19 in January 2021. On top of it all stood the pandemic, locking everyone down almost two years, and even though it is abating, I wear my mask anytime I am out, unlike many. 

 

05/15/2022 This has been a challenging week, as my best friend from many years back died on Tuesday. Bill Bennett and I go back to 1975 at Link Flight Simulation when we worked out of the same groups until he retired in 1993. Eileen and I went out to dinner with Bill and his wife Marylyn about once a month for many years, then when Marylyn died several years ago, we took Bill out every Wednesday as a matter of course until Eileen became ill. Bill was also ill and then confined to using a walker, so after Eileen died, I visited Bill at home when his daughter Terry was there on weekends, but that was limited because of Covid. Bill was a delightful person, with a keen intellect and he was interested deeply in cosmology, as I am, so we always had wonderful conversations. We were very conscious of Eileen, and these types of conversations were limited in time to only a few minutes each week. He always had a joke to tell (he remembered hundreds of them and rarely told the same one twice). He has been in and out of the hospital this year, so I was not shocked to learn of his death; saddened, but not shocked. 

Spring is certainly here, much dryer than last year. Daffodils are on their last legs, my few tulips are in full bloom, and lilacs are starting to bloom well. It appears that the lilacs will have a good showing, and all else are starting to grow well. I have even spent a little time working on the bonsai, probably more already than the combined time of the past two years, outside of club meetings. Much to do on them. The hummingbirds are here and at the feeder, but the phoebes have a problem in the form of a red squirrel. I was eating breakfast when I saw the squirrel leap up to the nest, and they will eat bird eggs. I scared it away, and saw both phoebes a little later, but not sure if they will stay. 

My son Dan flew in from Lima last Saturday night, landing at midnight. He was here to give a demo to a potential customer, but he received an email that one of the two coming in had to have an emergency gall bladder surgery and they were not coming; it is to be rescheduled. I had a delightful time chatting with Dan and facetiming family in the evening, and I get to do it over in a few weeks. 

The Company is doing well, and we celebrated one young man’s 20th  year with us; this has been the only company he has worked for, and he is a delight to have. I remember well when he started, then married, and children, and now starting to have grey hair! Time certainly does fly. We will have several more this year with ten years and more. 

The loss of a close friend and the information that another friend has entered hospice is a sobering fact of life that becomes more common as one ages and one’s friends’ age. Someday it will be my turn, and the wheel of life is what makes evolution happen – without that fact that everything dies and is replaced in its own time our sun would not have evolved from at least one debris of a super-nova death of a large star, life would not be and would not have moved from slime to human, I would not be writing this – in fact, there would be no “I”. God has a wonderful sense of eternity, holding us in love eternal, but entering with us in life, suffering, joy, and death. 

Meanwhile I will continue to wear a mask, perhaps putting that time off a bit – or not. 

Meditation 

Gentle One, I rest myself in Your care at this time of life and death. The beauty of spring gives us hope no matter what is occurring, telling us that life will continue no matter what crazy things we do. Watching children grow and learn new things is a true wonder and time moves along at wonderous speed from birth to death. I feel wrapped up in watching and living, day by day, sometimes hour by hour. This gift of life is the gift of Yourself in each wonderous day, to behold and love.