While walking my mother down the hall to her independent living home she said, "When you are not walking beside me I will pretend you are walking beside me." I cannot imagine a more loving affirmation.
Since she will be 104 this August I will not have much longer to walk beside the person who delivered me to this earth. The journey with her has already been so much lengthier than one might hope. After she has passed on I will always imagine her next to me.
Who walks beside you now? Which of your departed ancestors, family & friends accompany you, offering their shelter, kindness, advice & strength? Each can be guides in your life as well as partners - spirits that share your life in beautiful ways. Even former enemies can be teachers. They have tested your integrity & helped you define your life.
In her heart-changing novel, Lighthousekeeping, author Jeanette Winterson writes these words into the mouth of her protagonist: "Pew taught me that nothing is gone, that everything can be recovered, not as it was, but in its changing form."
This is not about holding séances. It is about experiencing a departed life via memory "in its changing form." The old words of my late father offer help & laughter as he walks beside me every day.
Who floats next to you now? Who, real or pretended, will accompany you down the hall when your days decline?
The departure of our bodies will leave the legacy of our spirit in its wake. Meanwhile, our role is to glance over every so often to acknowledge the souls who have shared our journey & share it still.
-Erie Chapman
Photograph by Martha Chapman, May, 2016
