Mar 17, 2024

 Living in Unconditional Love (158)

 

“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.

03/17/2024                             Happy St. Patrick’s Day. it is the wearing-of-the -green today. It is the birthday of my Granddaughter Rianna, who turns 20. How time does fly. I am home, arriving back from Lima, Peru Thursday evening. While it is good to be home, I miss the excitement and joy of the family, for it is quiet here all the time.

The two older girls wanted to see me off at the airport, so Dan took them along for the ride, but they fell asleep during the ride and slept on Dan’s shoulder while he helped me to the gate. It was fine once I got things checked in, as I used a wheelchair service to get to the gate and between flights. The flight to Atlanta was a bit rough, but not bad. I don’t think I slept (we left at midnight and landed around eight, DST) but all was well.

Peru does not use Daylight Savings Time, as it is close to the equator and the time of daylight does not vary that much during the year.

Even though it is not that cold here at home, I apparently became acclimated to the warmer weather and find I must bundle up when I go outside. It will take awhile to become used to the colder clime here. I walked around the garden today, and snowdrops and crocuses are blooming, and the daffodils are up but not blooming yet. Things are looking good, and the deer did not seem to have bothered things since the snow cover was not that heavy and I have most things the deer munch on covered with burlap.

I have been blessed over and over with the joys of family and friends. Dan and Alesandra have many friends, and many have small children, plus they meet other parents at school functions. It is amazing to see how well the two small ones, four and two and a half, love school and enjoy going every day.

I was fortunate to not get sick while there for a month, but I was careful to eat only medium or well-done food, and not mix too much with non-family folks.

I have many memories to let flow freely, and I could not ask for a better quality of life (except for missing Eileen) at this time. Dan and family hope to travel here at the end of July during a school break for a couple of weeks, and maybe the family could gather at that time so all the cousins could meet, but time will tell to see how many of the older grandchildren can come.

Meditation

Gentle One You have blessed me over and over during my life, and this past month was a beautiful example of that blessing. I am deeply grateful every day with the beautiful memories I have and while missing Eileen deeply I will continue to savor life deeply.