Oct 06, 2024

Living in Unconditional Love (187)

 

“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 after we met on Long Island. Then my brother Tom became ill (not COVID), 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. Covid has proved to be a persistent problem, and many of the long-term effects are quite serious, and it has proven much more serious than flu.

10/06/2024                                                    This week marked the anniversary of the house fire in 1984 on October 2. One of those events that stands out in the memory like a flare on a dark night. All that was left by the next morning was a smoking hole in the ground, filled with rubble and burnt remains. But all were safe, including all the animals – two cats and a dog. But we moved quickly and were back in our replacement home by the end of January, using a combination of stick built for the basement/first floor and prefab for the main living floor. We lived in the main floor for many months while they worked on the lower floor and added the garage. It took most of the following year to finish everything, but we could move in at the end of January, so we did. It was determined that the cause of the fire was a faulty electrical connection (loose wire) in a wall plug in one of the lower bedrooms, which was ironic in that the house was built by a fire inspector about 20 years earlier.

Then Friday, October 4^th would have been my Mother’s 127^th birthday. Time does move along. October 12 is my Father’s birth date, and he would have been 119 years old. Yes, he was eight years younger than mom, but their long marriage attests to the love that lay between them. Their story is truly one of the great love stories that I know. Dad was orphaned at age 12 and was on his own driving truck by the time he was 14. He moved to Elyria Ohio where he had an aunt living but wanted to be on his own, so he rented a room from mom’s aunt who had a rooming house. Mom was working at the Cleveland Plain Dealer and living in Cleveland, about 20 miles away, as a copy writer and was also orphaned (I think) but older. She was living at her aunt’s home on weekends and that is how they met. They knew one another for eight years before marriage.

Dad was a big man and very strong, and I have many tales of the things he did that I would have never tried, as he had no fear of heights and would be far off the ground hauling heavy things and not blinking. But his love for mom was total: she had a paralyzing stroke when she was 91 and unable to speak or move. She would only eat when dad fed her in the hospital, so he took her home and took total care of her. He carried her into the bedroom and back, as the wheelchair was too large for the hallway; he took her into the bathroom, washed her, dressed her, and fed her and seldom had any help for three years until another series of strokes led to her death. Mom eventually could talk a little, and her hearing was good, and she enjoyed listening and loved a joke, and they would watch television in the evenings.

What an example!

A love story for the ages.

Meditation

Gentle One, You bring back memories that enrich my soul at this time, and I am grateful for all the love I have seen throughout my life. I have seen truly unconditional love from many sources. The blessings have filled my life with riches far beyond anything I have imagined possible, and I am in awe over all that has happened. Thank You.