Margaret

Margaret was a wonderful woman and I miss her. I was fortunate to be able to spend quite a bit of time with her in the last months of her life. She was a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a teacher and a friend. I miss her.

The flower in the picture is the Margaret Merrill rose. Some dear friends of mine sent us one of these so we could plant it and have a beautiful, living reminder of her.

Margaret adored her husband, Jimmy. She mentioned many times during her final months how she missed him. He'd died years ago - a victim of Lou Gehrig's disease, ALS. It, somehow, seemed fitting that she passed on their anniversary.

Her son, MrWurdi, has had the responsibility of dealing with her estate. I'll save my ranting about the probate process for another day. In the midst of his grief, MrWurdi has needed to deal with all the "musts" and "have to" details. His strength during this difficult time has amazed me. He wrote the following:

My mother has passed on,
But I am a man, I must be strong.

But my days are filled with moments,
Moments of surprised sadness.

My mind does well,
But only the surface.

Beneath that lies the fragile emotion,
The weakness, the pain.

A word, a sound, a smell,
Even the consoling of a loved one.

Rips away the façade of strength,
The film of manhood.


I am a child, cold and alone,
My mother has passed on.