The past few weeks have brought changes to the lives of several family members,as well as for me personally. After fifteen years of working in the certification unit of the Department of education after school and during the summer, I have fully retired. A meniscus issue has made trudging up and down subway steps uncomfortable at the very least and unfailingly painful at its most difficult. It was not a difficult decision in the long run because for the past two years the earnings from this part-time job put me in a higher tax bracket and my tax guy, Dave, made me solemnly promise that I would leave the job once my contractual obligation was up. It was a good ride and I met great people who worked for one of the largest bureaucracies on earth. And you know what? They were caring professionals who became concerned about the employees they worked with and for. I will miss them.
Additionally, I am cycling off a national board that I served for six years. With the work of a co-chair and design team, we put together an international meeting of religious leaders in Minnesota, no mean feat when you realize I live in New York and my partner in this endeavor lives in Baltimore. We did it mostly by phone,email and limited face-to-face encounters.
Unfortunately, another change was the result of a family tragedy. A young adult member of our family tragically suffered an accidental death. Although this was a devastating event, the consolation was a drawing close of family members from near and far encircling his parents an billings with affection and a quiet strength that I hope will sustain time through the difficult days they will face in the months to come. We know that the grif and loss will not disappear over time. They will scab and callous over, only to be reopened at unexpected moments. The world has changed for them and for us, but time still moves on....Weddings will happen; babies will be born, and new people will come into our lives who will not remember him, but still we will. And we will wish he could be with us to share these new moments.
I am currently reading a book called "The Lost" . It is a memoir written by the grandson of Holocaust survivors who searched to piece together the lives of six relatives who perished in the war in Eastern Europe. In one part his brother who is traveling with him on this quest to speak to those who knew his uncle, aunt and four cousins, says that the Their deaths are never final because there is always a void, a hole or bear spot on the family tree left there by their untimely exit from this life. And I think that is what happens to families who lose members unexpectedly. What family hasn't?
What is constant in this transitory life is that change is inevitable; sometimes we control it,but any times we do not. Change can be painful, but having an anchored spiritual base can help us endure those changes that causes pain, and accept those that bring new opportunities.
I wrote this two weeks ago before my recent trip to the Fjords of Norway. More on that later.
Sent from my iPad
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