In Passing poem - Libations Friday 25 Feb 2011

A reflection upon just how much work we heap upon ourselves by resisting the obvious.

Reflections of That Moment - Libations Friday! 13 Nov 2009

From Denny: With all the tough news and stories of personal tragedies lately - and the stress people are feeling that goes with it - I thought this kind of poem needed a voice today. Friday the 13th is often associated with bad luck and with the economy the way it is there has been a domino effect happening to people because of it.

Tough things happen to us or those close to us in Life and we struggle to regain our balance. Whether it's a job loss or loss of a loved one, there is a grieving process we experience. It's important for yourself and those close to you that you embrace and flow with those emotional waves on your journey, trusting you will arrive at a better place. You will be pleasantly surprised at what awaits you.



Photo by Paraflyer @ flickr



Reflections of That Moment

Days of Remembrance always place us in a thoughtful mood…

For thousands of years humanity has marked special days of mourning to remember.

We reflect upon a fateful day when we heard the sad news someone died.




Photo by visualdensity @ flickr

It was a hard knock on the door, shocking our reverie, causing us to fear what came next.

Perhaps the doctor called from the hospital or it was a phone call from a weeping friend.

The one who left us was a member of our family, a neighbor or someone we knew from school years.

Perhaps their lives were cut short in our estimation and their passing made no sense at the time.




Photo by jurek d. @ flickr


Perhaps their lives of service as soldiers or as family, especially in the family of mankind took on a new acute importance with their passing away from our lives.

Perhaps if the one who left us too soon was a child, then we cannot see past the pain to live with only a memory.




Photo by Darwin Bell @ flickr

We wonder about their bad luck or ours, sometimes feeling guilty we survived when they did not, like in the battle of war or from a car accident or illness.

We wonder inside ourselves; we wonder aloud to friends who have wondered the same.

And as we grieve, we come to think again of Life is maybe not all it originally seemed.

Is there more? Do our loved ones, friends and neighbors still live beyond memories in our hearts?

When our thoughts begin to lay down the grieving and take up the wondering about what lies ahead, we slowly regain our balance.




Photo by andrecarol @ flickr

A smiling thought creeps into our minds from who knows where, “I wonder what they are doing right this minute? Are they having fun?”

It’s at that moment we are connected again to our loved one, though differently than before.

For while we grieved and drowned in the abyss of dark emotions we could not feel the connection.

When we chose to climb out of the abyss it was there we were greeted with new understanding and again felt our strong connection.




Photo by Anderson Mancini @ flickr


Our loved one had been waiting to greet us once more, assuring us all is well.


Denny Lyon
Copyright 11 November 2009
Veterans Day - 11 AM
All Rights Reserved


Photo Credits

Butterfly in hand Photo by Paraflyer @ flickr

Door handle Photo by visualdensity @ flickr

Blue door Photo by jurek d. @ flickr

Blue face Photo by Darwin Bell @ flickr

Opening window Photo by andrecarol @ flickr

Beach Photo by Anderson Mancini @ flickr


*** Thanks for visiting and have a safe weekend. Come back often! :)

Libations Friday! 11 September 2009

From Denny: Lately, I've been running across a lot of news stories talking about loss, in particular the loss of a child, and suddenly a rash of news stories about miscarriage, not exactly something you see talked about in the news. It also happens to be the anniversary of the dreaded 911 when terrorists cruelly killed thousands of loving people from all over the world in the New York City Twin Towers bombing, impacting families for generations to come.

So, it hit me that too many people are dealing with loss right now, the kind of loss that is severe disappointment to put it mildly. Miscarriage is often a lonely burden of which it seems other women in particular choose to be insensitive and do not seem to sympathize - unless it has happened to them. You can read as far back as the Old Testament Bible where women with children jeered and taunted women unable to bear children.

People think the accounts in the Bible are just story-telling. Well, there is a reason for those stories left for us down through the ages: do we recognize ourselves as one of the characters in those stories? If we do, what are we going to do about it?

A lot of people have asked me over the years how to deal with deep emotional and spiritual pain as it just seems too unbearable. My answer has always been the same: grieve, grieve some more, force yourself to keep moving forward, but most of all, keep looking to the future for the revelation of why your Life Plan took this turn. If you ask the question, you recieve the answer: eventually, which can take years before you are ready to see and accept the answer. You will be pleasantly surprised that what you thought was such a terrible thing turned out to be a small sacrifice for how you ended up benefiting humanity.

Can I tell you that this poem was a tough write? Too personal, I suppose... Many families are dealing with loss right now by the loss of a loved one be it a child, a parent, a spouse. Divorce is a similiar lonely burden like miscarriage, something others do not seem to fully understand any better than one or both of the divorced people.

This poem was written on this sorrowful anniversary of 911 to echo the pain and sadness of those suffering personal loss. This poem is also a personal recounting of my own struggle with loss after loss, way too many miscarriages that wrecked my physical health for a number of years until I figured out how to heal myself.

This is also the true story of an adult special child who instantly was drawn to my rocking chair I had purchased, stained and varnished, then prayed lots of love into for rocking my own children who never came (or so I thought at the time).

This special child wanted to take the rocker back to their facility for all the other kids to share with her. She said a lot of the parents had quit coming to visit their children and the kids were lonely.

What had happened is the parents were dead and closest relatives lived several states away from the state facility. My heart went out to her and instantly I agreed to give her the rocker. Plus, in my heart I knew there was something unusual and wonderful transpiring here as God was at work through this special child.

I went to visit that facility months later after the gift of the rocker and witnessed first hand the supreme satisfaction of the residents. The caretakers were quick to tell me all the stories associated with the rocker and that it seemed to have special magical powers, instantly calming and soothing whoever sat in it and rocked. Many of the adult special children suffered from severe epilepsy and other issues so this rocker was a healer too. I could not ask for anything better to learn.

Fifteen years later the revelation came of my niche in Life and it was quite a surprise, a pleasant surprise! You may find your purpose in Life is far larger than you ever intended or expected too.

***



Rock, My Children

When disappointment creeps near
After dreams are shattered
Our hearts mourn slowly
Yearning for what never lived



When others seem so happy
After we experience loss
Our hearts grieve longer
Yearning for what they enjoy



When we cannot understand
After chasing dream to dream
Our hearts flutter in hope
Yearning to finally succeed



When sitting in the lonely rocker
After the child has died
Our hearts sink deeper down
Yearning to feel their tiny presence



When rocking ourselves to sleep
After crying away our dream
Our hearts seek to mend us
Yearning to heal seared wounds



When our thoughts turn to children
After grieving months, even years
Our hearts feel hopelessly stuck
Yearning to know the why of Life’s Plan



When we feel like pieces of ourselves
After striving to move forward in Time
Our hearts still cry for what was not
Yearning to find meaning in the loss



When other women judge us harshly
After deciding we must not want children
Our hearts grieve, hurting worse
Yearning to know sisterly compassion



When one day fifteen years later our answer came
After drowning far too long in sadness
Our hearts look out to find a seeking child
Yearning, pointing to our rocker with delight



When the rocker is claimed wonderfully as their own
After touching, feeling the embedded loving prayers
Our hearts leap up to gather this new child close
Yearning to know where to send the unused Love



The rocker finally found a new home much needed
For years the lonely rocker filled with smiling special children
Adult special children cuddled gladly in its reassuring embrace
Renewed by a mother’s love so strong thy sighed with safe content



When the Never Mothers’ own children were lost
After Life dealt one seemingly cruel hand
Our hearts soon mended in Love and purpose
Yearning to see revealed the truth of what was meant to be



Mothers’ Love was not meant to be confined to a few
Mothers’ Love is eternally sent out to all those in need
Life’s Plan was to embrace the children of the world



Rock, my children
Rock in the knowing
You are well loved



Rock, My Children…


Denny Lyon
Copyright 11 September 2009
All Rights Reserved


Thanks for visiting, everyone, have a great weekend! XXXOO


***

Photo Credits

Angel child photo from StumbleUpon, no attribution available

Spring time pregnant photo by Carnaval King 08 @ flickr

Baby feet photo by Sabrina Campagna @ flickr

Black heart photo from StumbleUpon, no attribution available

Single shadowed rocking chair photo by blmurch @ flickr

Eye spy photo by lepiaf.geo @ flickr

Collage woman photo by DerrickT @ flickr

Hands on black background photo by batega @ flickr

Child reading in rocker photo by Lori Greig @ flickr

Special Olympics T-shirt slogan photo by Dru Bloomfield - At Home in Scottsdale @ flickr

Row of rockering chairs photo by Felixe @ flickr

Umbrellas in the rain photo by 1Happysnapper (is catching up slowly) @ flickr

Marine Lioness in Iraq photo by Yankee November @ flickr - ASH SHAFIYAH, IRAQ (12 November 2004) - LCpl. Brandy L. Guerrero, a radio operator assigned to the Communications Detachment, Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) Service Support Group 11, 11th MEU (Special Operations Capable), gives a kiss to an Iraqi baby waiting to be examined during a Humanitarian Assistance Operation (HAO) in the village of Ash Shafiyah, Iraq. The HAO provided medical and dental treatment to more than 115 Iraqis. (Since I come from a 100 year tradition of Marines on one side of the family, all proud Democrats, I just had to include this awesome photo of nurturing from a warrior, so much like many of my tough, crusty but nurturing male warrior mentors when I was growing up.)

Adult and child hands photo by marcuzzo @ flickr

JOY photo by alicepopkorn @ flickr


911, 911 anniversary, God, love, Special Olympics, sorrow, sad, death, grief, counseling, depression, divorce, family, relationships, men and women, mothers, children, Kids and Teens, religion and spirituality

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Photo by muha... @ flickr

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