Time present and time past
Are both perhaps present in time future,
And time future contained in time past.
If all time is eternally present
All time is unredeemable.
My sister died last week.
It wasn’t a surprise; she had been diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer eight and a half years previously. But she had good medical care, and her decline was slow and mostly manageable. Until it wasn’t, and she had a sudden and precipitous decline. On Saturday, she was out at a local ballet performance. On Sunday, she was in the emergency room. Monday, hospice was called in, and she died on Thursday. Her wife and her kids and I were with her at the end; hospice provided exemplary care.
But oh, the ache.
A couple of days after she died, I opened the newspaper and a movie review jumped off the page at me. I’m not a huge movie-goer but Sarah was, and the last time I’d been in a movie theater was a couple of months ago, with her. [We saw Black Bag, and we were the ONLY people in the theater.] So – in part as a way to honor Sarah’s love for moviegoing – my daughter and I set off for a late afternoon showing of Jane Austen Wrecked My Life. And it was perfect and Sarah would have loved it. It’s half in French, half in English. It’s set in Paris (with a lot at Shakespeare & Company) and also in an English country manor house turned writing retreat. It has a Mr. Darcy, it has spitting llamas, and who doesn’t love a movie in which *the* Frederick Wiseman has a cameo.
Somewhere along the line, one character quotes Wordsworth at another: “that best portion of a good man’s life: his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love.”
In my head, I re-gendered the quote, thinking of the little acts of kindness and love carried out by my sister.
Go forth with love. See a movie, plant a perennial, bake some breadsticks, mail a postcard. Advocate for the voiceless, volunteer with a local organzation. All of these are the little acts that a good person does, day in and day out. And these little acts into the future honor the past.
Go forth with love.
9 comments:
As usual, beautifully said. Tears. smiles and so much love. One of the reasons I joined social media so many years ago was to stay a little connected to my cousins. Through book titles on goodreads and the photos that are taken of the little things that bring joy. 💔❤️
I think your sister would have loved that you remembered her at the theater.
(((((( Maggie )))))))) xoxo
Perfect Maggie. Just perfect. ❤️
Just wonderful and all the little acts and joys add up every day. Thanks
Beautifully shared. I love the list of Sarah’s actions to ‘go forth with love.’ ❤️
Thank you. Will do all of that. For the millionth time, dammit.
it’s Mary G, Magpie. my,laptop,won’tmlet me post by name. imcame here to check on you from a post I was rereading about the death of my sister from lung cancer. I wish I could say something profound that would help ...,I wish I KNEW something that would help. you loved her. she knew that. you knew her. that was priceless to her as well as to,you. i think your movie mourning was perfect. sending you a virtual hug.
I am so sorry for your loss, Maggie. Thank you for this beautiful tribute to your sister.
Beautiful, Maggie, thank you.
Post a Comment