Here’s the puzzle I did during the day on Halloween. This is the third stop on my journey around the Wheel of the Year by myself. I don’t have any pictures from past celebrations because in the past I spent this holiday with my ancestors, as it is a time when the veil between the living and the dead thins and they are remembered. I visited cemeteries and did research. They feel closer to me this time of year.
Today, on All Souls’ Day, I am going to share a poem that resonates with me. My daughter found it posted on Facebook and shared it with me. It perfectly expresses my feelings about missing Tim these days.
Your heartbeat was my metronome
My compass
The rhythm I kept
The north I followed
Your arms were my home
My safety
My belonging
The one place I fit
Now I’m alone
I can’t keep time
I can’t find north
And there’s no way home
~ Racheal Bashaw
(No Way Home)
I live too far away from where our ancestors lie buried so I didn’t visit a cemetery. But I did something for Tim and created a memorial page for him on the Find a Grave website. Before he died we had discussed how we wanted to make sure we were buried near where we and our ancestors had lived most of our lives together, and I feel satisfied that I made that happen.
It is the beginning of a new project to add as many of our ancestors’ cemeteries to the database as I can. Since the public can see it without needing an invitation or a password it seems like it will be an excellent way to share the basics. Future descendants might stumble across it and be glad to know where to look for his grave. It won’t replace the pages for the ancestors I’ve posted on this blog; it will be an additional reference. And it’s impossible to know how long my blog will stay online after I’m gone.
And so another year has gone by.
An interesting puzzle.
Hi Barbara. A sad post, but positive in that it remembers those who have gone before us. I love learning about my ancestors and wish I could know more. Your project on burial places will help many who are on this quest. …Jane
My words cannot express how much your post resonates with me: the poem takes me right back to the safety I felt with my soulmate my late husband. And it does feel so true that this time of year the veil thins between the worlds and we can draw nearer to those who have gone. And the sadness, but also your way of weaving rituals for yourself to mark the wheel of the seasons turning – is inspiring to me who am a person tending to slip into denial as a way of protecting myself from the always-present grief. It certainly takes courage to keep stepping forward. And perhaps I can learn to pause a bit more to sit with and somehow commemorate the memories when they surface…..
Yes, the wheel turns, and we are carried along with it. A poignant poem as the loss continues to be felt, a missing of connection that never completely leaves us.
Looks like a fun Halloween puzzle, I did one as well, lots of details to keep me busy. 👻
Hope you enjoyed building the puzzle!