from a friend, who took this from a High Holy Day prayerbook used at a nursing home (pointing out that even those who do not believe in God can relate to the rest):
We find holiness in our struggle to be the best we know how to be.
We find holiness in our acts of kindness where there is no thought of reward.
We find holiness in the sharing and caring of our daily lives.
We find holiness in the joys of friendship and love.
We find holiness in the joyous spontaneity of children at play.
We find holiness when we unleash the child within ourselves.
We find holiness in the shared gifts of our laughter and personal triumphs.
We find holiness when we comfort a friend at a time of loss or in a sense of defeat.
We find holiness in the recognition and acceptance of our own brokenness.
We find holiness when we strive to fashion the strength to meet life with good cheer.
We find holiness in our precious memories and quiet reflections tempered through the years.
We find holiness when we work to grow toward tomorrow.
And we find holiness when we gather together to pray to God who, in holiness, gives us the power of prayer and deed.
Thanks, Ruth, for sharing at this time.
So today was the Kever Avot service. I arrived just a tad late and there were Nath and Jackie sitting together. They live not too far from each other and turns out they were driving one behind the other (unplanned) to the service. After the official words, many of us went down to Home of Peace, a wholly owned piece of Jewish land that is the oldest Jewish cemetery in San Jose. Meeka and Dana did a small prayer and song on behalf of Linda, with the five of us (me, Jackie, Nath, Meeka and Dana) standing by the grave of our dear friend Lynn Glass and her husband Harry. that was pretty special.
a week from Monday is 6 months since Linda died. Dana asked if it feels short or long or both and i said yes. which is true. both terribly recent and far away. it's been so busy lately that i haven't had a lot of time to miss Linda directly, or even time to cry. well today at the cemetery fixed that. always bring tissues.
things are funky with the computer today, so i will copy the content of this post in case. i remember the times when Linda would spend hours on a blog entry, only to have it go poofy when she tried to save. and hey, it worked the first time!! woo hoo!!
it's definitely getting colder, and darker earlier. we had some rain over the weekend (first in 202 days if you can believe that) including one downpour when Ketzl was outside. he got a bit wet but toweling was fine. he doesn't mind the hairdryer when i need to use it. the air is so nice and clear after a rain. also went to the farmers market. it really is the end of the summer. many of the vendors said this was the last weekend for white peaches, nectarines and plums. so i got a bunch to last the next few weeks. we are so spoiled. i went out and did the best i could to strip the last of the tomatoes and there are still some apples on the tree. (thx Daphne).
the ohio state buckeyes beat the wisconsin badgers yesterday. it's a divided family. adam is a buckeye and i'm a badger now (with the shirt to prove it...oh that's why they lost -- i didn't wear the shirt yesterday!)....adam wrote to say that he thought of last year when Linda and I went up to San Francisco to a bar where they were grilling bratwurst and drinking lots of beer and all the badger fans were age 22-27 and doing the "jump around" which they do in the stadium as well. what incredible engineering to hold 60,000 people jumping up and down! i hope i can get to a badger game some time this season. big ten football is incredible!
not sure how to get ready for this week. when Dana reads the list of people who have died this year and Linda's name will be on it. one more thing to be done, some for the first time, some for the only time. next year her name will not be on the list.
i still cannot hear Linda's voice. which is both strange and frustrating to me. i need to check with others to see if this is unusual or not. also, i think i need to get more pictures around. Shelley suggested getting a copy of one of the photographs from Linda's first visit, in a trademark banded collar white shirt, sitting on a chair in the kitchen. one of my favorites. so adorable.
this is an important time as i prepare to enter the new year with a clean slate. time to forgive and ask forgiveness. time to reflect and to appreciate the almost 9 years Linda and i had together, to be grateful that we found each other, and to remember the good times and the love we shared.
thank you Nath and Jackie for today. i know some of it is for yourselves as well as for me, but/and i appreciate your company. always. and i know many of you not physically in our company are totally with us in spirit and will be on Thursday as well.
may the coming year be one of sweetness, joy and growth for all of us.
Shanah Tovah!
