Memere: Lamentation and Celebration



Song for Athene was written for a young woman who died in an accident, and was used as the recessional in Princess Diana's funeral. 

I herein dedicate it to my mother-in-law who died Wednesday evening.


Nearly two years after having been told she had perhaps six months to live, she surpassed all expectations -- not by merely outlasting medical predictions, but by her determination to live every minute fully and bravely.


While the Tavener piece speaks of Christian afterlife, its spirituality lies in the grandeur of life itself: man's creative mind. For me, the slow, four-part harmony and droning mournful sound nearly perfectly express the wrenching sadness of dying and the finality of death.  

More importantly, however, I have terrific memories of this subtly feisty, quietly wise, and generously caring woman. And while I knew her from the time I was very young, I was not then privy to her thoughts and desires (she was known to me only as the library assitant at our Catholic elementary school and mother of those boys). Having since become one of those dear to her, I choose to celebrate her life by remembering her this way:

 

Happily held in the arms and eyes of her best friend.

Comments

Jenn Casey said…
I'm so sorry for your loss. My condolences to Stephen, too.
December 10, 2010 at 12:13 PM
Kelly Elmore said…
I'm so sorry for you and Stephen and your kids. That picture of her dancing is priceless. They look like they are having so much fun. I know you'll miss that spirit.
December 10, 2010 at 12:59 PM
Christina said…
I can't think of a more poignant song to dedicate to her. Your words are a fine tribute, as well. Thinking of all of you.
December 10, 2010 at 7:23 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Plainsies, Clapsies

A ball bouncing game from my youth instructed the player to throw the ball up ( plainsies ), throw it up and clap ( clapsies ) throw it up and roll your hands ( roll the ball ) and touch your shoulders ( tabapsies ). In trying to locate the rest of the ball bouncing chant, I found out not only is my “tabapsies” a mondegreen , but also the motion – touching your shoulders – isn’t even the correct movement! You are supposed to clap your hands behind your back and say “ to backsies .”  Yeah. That makes much more sense. Being only slightly deflated by this discovery, I will still share my exciting news.  In an attempt to counteract the stretching of my wrist from doing front squats two days in a row, I pulled out the tabapsies motion this morning.  This, in itself, is not newsworthy.  However, I grabbed both shoulders with all five fingers!!! Again, not exciting unless you know that when I was nine years-old, I broke my left elbow doing a running c...
Read more

Memorizing the Preamble to the Constitution

Image
In preparation for celebrating the 222nd anniversary of the signing of the Constitution of the United States on September 17, 1787, here are a few videos that I hope will inspire you to at least memorize the brief, but powerful Preamble. First, here is my first attempt at video editing with the bare bones Windows Movie Maker (no ability to step through frame by frame with sound, or ability to mark stops before cutting). My daughters are reading the Preamble to the Constitution from the little book I carry in my purse. They can recite it by heart, but it I thought it would be a little different (and a little less exposed) if they did it this way. Let's not even talk about the 20 takes due to laughter. If you knew it as a child, don't worry, it'll come back to you as Barney shows in this video. Finally, a little treat for my sci-fi loving friends. And if memorizing and reciting The Preamble in creative ways leaves you wanting more, you can find out which Founding Father you...
Read more

Why I am an Objectivist

I am a human being who values her life on this earth above all other things. The right and good is that which contributes to my life and the wrong and evil is that which destroys it. Every action I take must pass through the gates of identification before being pursued as a value which I understand will contribute to my life. Happiness is my ultimate goal. I understand the importance of identifying, applying, pursuing, and achieving those values which will contribute to my life, not just in the immediate sense (which every child understands), but in the long-term sense (which develops with experience). This is not to say that I’m really good at always identifying, pursuing, and achieving those values, or that I remain consistent in my applications of them; merely that I had already understood that this selfishness was the key to my happiness when I was relatively young. The importance of the fact that I understood I was responsible for my own happiness can not be overemphasized here. W...
Read more