...a time to be born, a time to die...

It's early in the day, yet I've already read about two deaths on my small corner of the blogging world. By coincidence we had two deaths yesterday, well, one died after aggressive care was withdrawn and comfort care maintained, and one patient was transferred to in-patient hospice.

We pass a funeral parlor on the way to HoneyHair's dance lesson, its parking lot filled to the edges and cars overflowing up and down the street from friends and neighbors come to comfort.

Another cold and grey rainy day here, the kind of day that keeps grief hovering close to the earth by sheer weight of the cloud cover.

It's a day when sadness could reign.

But it is a day that I am alive to tell the tale and live out loud, so I offer this poem with many blessings for those who have loss and grief in their lives.




In a beautiful blue lagoon on a clear day, a fine sailing ship spreads its brilliant white canvas in a fresh morning breeze and sails out to the open sea. We watch her glide away magnificently through the deep blue and gradually see her grow smaller and smaller as she nears the horizon. Finally, where the sea and sky meet, she slips silently from sight, and someone near me says, 'There, she is gone!'

Gone where? Gone from sight. That is all. She is still as large in mast and hull and sail, still just as able to bear her load. And we can be sure that, just as we say, 'There, she is gone' another says, 'There, she comes!'
Henry Van Dyke

Peace be with you.



please note: art by John Singer Sargent

Comments

  1. ...a day when sadness could reign. Beautiful, on a rainy day there. Thanks for living it, knowing it, releasing it. It's a bright sunny day in this valley in Oregon; your thoughts sent you here.

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  2. Oddly enough, my close friend's father just died last night after a battle with cancer. The poem you posted is perfect. thank you

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  3. Do you mind if I post the poem on my blog as well?

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  4. I'm happy I stopped by to read you today.

    A good friend is bearing witness as her lover of long date succumbs to the complications of a spinal myeloma. My grandmother is almost 96 and is trying to disappear at that horizon line. Her son my uncle lives by 29 pills per day. Sometimes it is a bit much.

    Keep living out loud and telling the tale.

    Amitiés,

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  5. I always feel a different grief this time of year. It's for the child I thought I had, but didn't. It's for the mind that Autism took from my sweet young babe 19 years ago. She was robbed, and so was I. It's not a loss of life, but then again, I think it was. I'd better not cry in her birthday cake again tonight.

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  6. Rose--don't mind at all. Hope that it brings some comfort to you and your friend.
    It seems that there are times when more people die than usual--like there is a rent in the universe or something.
    And Rudee, you are right. There are all kinds of losses and grief. It's a very painful feeling to have when you mourn someone who is alive and standing right in front of you. Bless you and your family. I'll be thinking about you all tonight.

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  7. What a great poem, I have never read that! Thanks.

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  8. Today is the 11th anniversary of my Mom's death. The day she died was a lot like this one: cold, gray and a mixture of snow and rain. The moment she died, the sky opened up and the sun lit the clouds. It was amazingly golden.
    Thank you so much for this wonderful poem.
    xo

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  9. really touching,u express things so beautifully and quietly,so u r a criticale nurse,,,,,,,,,god bless u

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  10. I wish I could believe those last five words in your poem.
    ~Lorna

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  11. great post and great blog

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  12. YOU ARE A BLOG OF NOTE!!

    My eyes just caught it as I was signing on. This is so wonderful and deserved.

    Congratulations!

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  13. It's a sad grief seeing somebody pass away, even something because we know that deep inside of us, we will not see the same likes again. Such a loss even if we don't care so much for that which is lost.

    Your post is a grief in its deeper meaning and somehow, I got a hold of it.

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  14. Congrats on blog of note. Love d poems.

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  15. You deserve being a blog of note...

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  16. Hello.

    This is the first time I am seeing your blog. It caught my eye in that section, Blogs of note. You really do deserve it.

    Coming to your article. It was b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l!!! I am but a 14 year old and really don't know what to say!?!

    Death always puzzled me till now... tell now. The poem is SO SO SO beautiful.

    Thanks for the article !!!

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  17. I really loved reading the content of your blog..really beautiful writing...madame, you should start a career in writing...i am ure you wll have more readers than you can ever imagine..My best wishes in your new career..pl.take this seriously...nandan1nandan2@yahoo.com

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  18. Your blog is the first one I have ever commented on... I'm glad that amidst all the sadness you see on a daily basis you still smile.... good going... and keep it that way :)

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  19. I love your poetry. Congrats on being a blog of note.

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  20. Congratulations on being chosen "A Blog of Note". Much deserved.

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  21. How beautiful is the poem and your thoughts. Added you to my role as I definitely want to return again and again.
    Congrats on blog of note, well deserved.

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  22. Your blog is beautiful.

    W.B. Yeats has a similar poem, it's called When You Are Old. It's my favorite.

    It talks of the subject dying, and says he "hid his face among a cloud of stars." Lovely.


    www.itsmewithocd.blogspot.com

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  23. Thanks for the lovely thoughts. You have been an inspiration to many.

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  24. Came here because of the Blog of Note award. Much deserved, I shall be looking in again.

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  25. Oddly enough, my close friend's father just died last night after a battle with cancer. The poem you posted is perfect. thank you

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  26. Thank you for this poem,my grandfather died when I was 3 years and was hard for me.Your thoughts are encouraging .
    Visit my blog

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  27. I love your poetry. Really good!!
    Congrats on being a blog of note.

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  28. Such a beautiful poem. I worked as a PIO an EMS for awhile. So many medics were hardened by death. Given the fact that you work in critical care nursing and see death more often than most, this poem coming from you, is even more meaningful.

    Congrats on Blog of Note. That's how I came to your site. I follow Chuck's project, too.

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  29. Thank you.
    My husband and I found a friend, dead on his kitchen floor, yesterday. I have been hiding in the blog world most of today. Your word have truly comforted me.
    Thank you.

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  30. you truly desrve to be the bolg of note! I just came across your blog and the poem was so heart touching! it just makes one feel as if there is more after death!

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Hey, thanks for your thoughts and your time:>)

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