“A light loses nothing by being extinguished, it just goes back to how it was before.”
—Lucius Annaeus Seneca
Seneca, the great Roman Stoic philosopher reminded himself that prior to being born we were still at peace, and we will
once again be at peace after we die. We are also remembering Michael’s boys who survived him: Michael, Jr., Andrew, Brock and Alex whom he adored and cherished as they did him. He would have been 62 on November 10. I want to thank my dear beloved nephew Michael, Jr. (Mikey), for sending me a lovely card and gift a few days ago prior to the anniversary of his father’s passing.
As Mikey wrote, his father "meant so much to so many especially his family, so I want a part of him with you.” To my delight he chose an elephant charm and chain to gift me, a reminder of the once in a lifetime camera safari trip to Kenya and Tanzania I took with his father and my brother-in-law Joseph Mcallister. He asked would I mind bringing the elephant charm with me on my bike rides, hence the card with a whimsical illustration of a bike. Consider it done Mikey. I was so touched by your presence of mind to think of me and sending me positive thoughts and feel-good wishes to brighten my world just a few days prior to the anniversary of your dad’s passing.
I was so impressed that you remembered my telling you that days after I returned to California from NJ following your dad’s funeral last year I went bike riding with a friend and was feeling a lot of sadness and pain. Then, something came over me and instead of focusing on mourning his loss, I felt that your father was riding along with me and I was showing him the sights like I did when we were kids when he and your aunt Josephine sat on the the back of our uncle’s Vespa in Sicily while I drove us along the beach. Your father would be so proud of the thoughtful, sensitive, man you have become. Your symbolic gift couldn’t have come at a better time.
On this day of remembrance of your father and my brother, I offer a poem by @ Lauren, March 2010 called:
A Wish And a Prayer
May your spirit soar in freedom
From the fears that gripped you so tight.
May you find the peace you searched for
As you wandered lost in the night.
May your…mind be clear and calm
And your tender heart be warm.
May you have no need for strength now.
May there never be another storm.
May the music of the angels
Be the sweet sounds you hear.
As you’re rocked in Heaven’s cradle
May you never shed another tear.
I’ll wear your memory proudly,
May my love for you reach Heaven above
Until we meet again (dear brother).
