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March 27, 2023
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I wrote this poem when I was thinking of my darling Mum on her birthday, the 26th of March. She passed away in 2018 and would have been 92. Forever grateful For the love and the care For her gentle nature And heart felt prayer For her love which encompassed As she baked and sewed Bringing sustenance and joy Wherever she’d go A picture of beauty Her garden and home Arms and doors open As we’d return Full of our burdens Bags and children A place of rest A place of joy Hospitality Love’s emploie Chatter and laughter Through the years Many a time Woven with tears As hearts joined To allay fears For loved ones Thank you...

October 27, 2022
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As spring beauty unfolds in my garden I think again of the seasons and the unfolding nature of our life’s journey. Of the importance of taking a moment to pause and be grateful and to intentionally note the beauty around us. Reminding myself that when I purposely spend time with my loved ones, being curious, asking questions about their lives and stories – looking and listening for the sad and happy notes, the moments of joy – we grow richer and closer together as we wait, taking in the fragrance...

July 15, 2021
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“Our role in grieving is to harvest the legacies we have been left by those who have passed on.” -Dr Tom Attig- I recently was deeply moved as I read “When Breath Becomes Air” by Paul Kalanithi, a young neurosurgeon who faced his own death with humility and courage at just 37 years of age and who chose to write about what makes life worth living in the face of death. In the epilogue his wife Lucy wrote: “I expected to feel only empty and heartbroken after Paul died – it never occurred to...

August 28, 2020
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My heart goes out to these families who have had the rug ‘doubly’ pulled from under their feet with the sudden U-turn of another ‘lock down’ in our community. These families are being called to pause and wait until such time as they can gather with those who want to stand with them and mourn. An uncertain and unknown future. However grief can’t be put on hold and so I hope and pray for breath, rest, healing and a time to soak in memories. This is a time for us...

May 23, 2020
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Recently, on a pristine autumn morning, I led a Family Memorial Gathering in a private home, for a much loved 97 year old mother, grandmother and great grandmother who had died during lockdown level 4 for Covid 19. As I drove there my eyes settled on a gracious old tree in a park, with her autumn glory fading and resting on the ground. It  reminded me of the colour and seasonality of our lives. When one lives to a great age, and it is a life well-lived, you see in the last...

April 23, 2020
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I have been moved during his season of lockdown for COVID-19 by the creativity and giving – the radical generosity that has surfaced in our communities. Teddy bears in windows to enable an afternoon walk to become a ‘bear hunt’; neighbours, organisations and churches phoning the elderly and isolated;  young people and neighbours shopping for those who can’t; streets celebrating children’s birthday’s with balloons and messages of love on letterboxes; our spirits being lifted by our musicians, actors and poets offering their gifts on YouTube bringing ‘aha!’ moments, laughter and...

March 19, 2020
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A moment to mark To remember Gratitude shown For hands extended And love sown In yester year. A memorial service provides us  with a  sacred moment to acknowledge and mark the loss of our loved ones, at a small or sometimes, quite long time, after their loss. Naomi Shihab Nye writes“Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside,You must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.” It is so often in these moments of deep sorrow when family and community gather, that kindness is extended and reaches into our souls, bringing warmth and love and light. In...

February 17, 2020
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“We are never finished with grief. It is part of the fabric of living. It is always waiting to happen. Love makes memories and life precious; The grief that comes to us Is proportionate to that love And is inescapable.” - V S Naipaul Today I am thinking of the precious couple Emma and Dan whose darling daughter Jasmine Charlotte was still born at 37 ½ weeks in January 2019. So heart breaking. This beautiful quote speaks to me of that inescapable grief that surrounds such a loss. A grief woven into the fabric of their living and loving....

February 2, 2020
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Recently my family gathered together in Christchurch to inter our dear Dad’s ashes alongside our dear Mother whom we interred in September last year at the time of Dad’s 90th birthday, just 10 days before he passed away. A quiet morning Quiet in the morning As we pause to pray Loving memory holds sway Fresh roses and daisies Lovingly picked and laid Fragrant with memory Of giving from gardens and hearts In some past day. We give thanks for our dear father As we lay him to rest With our mother Already lying in peace Her presence fresh As we gently sprinkle the earth The wind...

January 15, 2020
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It’s with a deep sense of gratitude that I turn my face towards this year and a new decade. Gratitude that God is here and present. Gratitude for a year gone by woven with sacred moments. Moments of celebration anointed with hours of planning and sparkling with the evidence of that. Gratitude for spontaneous celebrations and moments of beauty in the outdoors, saved with the pause as they take your breath away. Gratitude for the deep, emotional, quiet, spirit filled moments as I journeyed towards my father’s death with him. Moments of closeness, stillness, gratitude. The forever...