My mum, Fay and New Year's celebrations...
It’s that time of year again – wow! It only seemed like yesterday I wrote this blog post. It’s the summer solstice, the longest day of the year and also the anniversary of my beautiful mother’s passing (13 years).
I’m never fond of this time of year – all the Christmas hoo-ha – the crowds, the crazies, and the losses. My maternal grandma passed Christmas day, 18 years ago – I was in Mexico at the time and didn’t find out until two months later – I never really grieved properly as it never felt real except for the fact that she was no longer here. I’m still coming to terms with that. My maternal grandad
Grandad
passed two weeks after Christmas, 29 years ago. I was close to both my grandparents, particularly my grandad (Pop) his loss felt unbearable at the time, and losing my mum was the most traumatic of all, and the worst Christmas ever!
Three generations of strong women ♥
But the summer solstice is a time of rebirth, healing and light – so in a way that’s kind of a nice time to pass. All depends on how you look at it on any given day. The grieving never really stops, the expression: time heals and all of that, I’m not so sure, the missing and the loss never, ever goes away, it just gets easier to talk about. But upon reflection there are gems of memories that can never be taken, will always be remembered, and treasured. And I thank my mum, my grandma and pop for having such a strong presence in my life. As time goes by I try to not dread this time of year so much, but sometimes, and just sometimes I do back away from the tinsel and sparkle and craziness of this commercial thing called ‘Christmas’ and head to the beach, walk barefoot upon the sand, meditate by the ocean, ponder a flower and cloud watch.
I like to nurture my spirit at this time of year, eat well, sleep well, and retreat a little and reflect on the year that’s been. Because that’s my time to honour the spirits of my family and remember them with a quiet, loving embrace. I like to nurture and honour their spirit within me and give thanks to all the things they taught me, good and bad, because without them I would not be the person I am today.
And it’s summer, my favourite time of the year, a blessed time to draw on the sun’s energy and breathe renewed life into a ‘new year’.
Midnight rambler remembering loved ones and nurturing the spirit within…
