Walk in the Glow of Each Other's Majestic Presence

As I believe I've mentioned, Jason's mother died in early June. A lovely obituary for her is available here. We went out to Idaho in July for the family reunion she'd helped to plan, which became a chance for her family to mourn her together.

Jason's dad, Steve, decided that the memorial event in Seattle would be a gathering in their garden this past Saturday, so we flew out on Wednesday night. We spent Thursday puttering around and Friday mostly working in the garden--one of Trish's gardening friends came over to get us started and point out what needed doing. I was rather amazed at myself for doing that much yard work, but it was oddly satisfying and felt like a real way of honoring Trish's memory.

On Saturday people packed into their beautiful garden. There were co-workers of Steve, people from the neighborhood, friends from the book club she founded more than thirty years ago and members of the chamber choir she had joined more than forty years ago, and about twenty members of her extended family--all her siblings, a couple of their kids, three of her first cousins, plus their assorted partners. Everyone expressed their shock at her sudden passing and told stories of her generosity in their lives. One of her friends brought the sheet music for Wild Mountain Thyme and Jason's brother, Eric, accompanied us on his violin as we sang "Will ye go, lassie, go" in the lovely Seattle afternoon in the shade of the trees Trish had planted.

It was a beautiful farewell to a life full of friends and family, music, literature, and love.

Shortly after posting that last, I got the news that a guy I know died today. He was not someone I knew well--though I had enjoyed his hospitality--and he was a difficult person to know, but many of the people I care about were close to him. I've talked to a few of them...the local ones are gathering to mourn together, more distant ones are getting drunk. There's a lot of shock, a lot of numbness, a lot of pain going around tonight. I'm pretty sure that all the people on my flist who knew him will have heard by now through other channels, and his name won't mean anything to many of you. But whether you knew him or not, as you say your prayers or raise your glass or hug the ones you love, Kevin "Frostbyte" McCormick is no longer with us.

We just received word that Jason's great-uncle, Jack, died this afternoon at home.

My father is dying. Not actively, not today (mostly likely), possibly not for another few years, but as an 82 year old man with heart problems, his long-term is not very long, most likely. ( Thoughtful rambling. )

I just got a call with the news that the ex-boyfriend of a friend, who has been stalking her since they broke up a few months ago, killed himself last night and left a suicide note blaming her.