If you had one last thing to say, what would it be? Would you say something to guide others along life’s journey or would you capture your spirit? When you think about it, these few words are the ultimate label. I think of this as I select the perfect lines to inscribe on my mother’s tombstone.
Now that her physical presence is gone, I don’t need to worry about boosting her ego. I am more concerned about capturing her spirit. Looking into her soul and finding the goodness that is in each one of us. Sorry Mom, it no longer matters that you were a great tennis player when you are at the pearly gates.
If it were me, I want my final line to say … she loved with a love that was more than love (Edgar Allen Poe).
My mother was fun loving, sensitive and unique. She loved nature, the woods of the Rustic Ridge in Northfield Massachusetts. Her last few years were complicated, but she still laughed when she was able.
So I selected words from her favorite poem Birches … by Robert Frost. I trust they are the right ones.
I’d like to go by climbing a birch tree,
And climb black branches up a snow-white trunk
Toward heaven
