Today, my cousins are here from California to bury their mother in our family cemetery. This is also where my parents, our grandparents and our great-grandparents are all buried. Having a family burial plot is an important part of our legacy binding us together.
If we are fortunate enough to live according to nature’s cycle of life, we will inevitably experience the profound life-changing event of losing of a parent. There is no substitution for that first human relationship that becomes the foundation for all others. When she’s gone, there is nothing that can replace her. Age doesn’t matter. I know. I lost my mother ten years ago when I was fifty-one and I still think about her every single day.
The grief is wide and deep. We need to allow the pain and express the heartache with understanding and compassion, to accept that this loss will impact our relations with remaining loved ones and everyone else. We will have to find the mother within us and learn the overwhelming skill of self-care.
Without a mother, mortality begins to rear its ugly head. It is our time to step up to the plate and take our best swing. If we are fortunate to have this opportunity, we must do our very best. It’s our job, it’s our humanity and it will make Mother proud.
BubbeWisdom 