The ‘Get Well’ cards and balloons filled the dining room. Marta was well-liked by all.
But, her diagnosis was grim. It was a rare form of cancer. It had spread throughout her body. If it hadn’t been for COVID, she wouldn’t have known until she died.
We haven’t seen any family visitors. Has anyone called her family?
There is no family.
Nonsense, everyone has a family.
She does not. How long does she have to live?
Perhaps, a month.
Good Odds.
How so?
A neighbor found her during a well-check visit. She arrived here as an attempted suicide.
Bright sunflowers had greeted Nadia each time she’d visited her baba Oksana.
As a small child, she’d watched her grandmother cook traditional Russian meals while recounting tales of her journey to the new land she’d eventually call home.
She’d traveled on a crowded boat with few belongings. The small amount of sunflower seeds she’d brought to eat were almost gone by the time she’d arrived.
Oksana decided to plant the leftover sunflower seeds in remembrance of her home; left behind.
Imprinted in Nadia’s heart, memories of her baba Oksana’s smile and love of sunflowers.
*****The dictionary terms and basic forms for grandfather and grandmother in Russian are dedushka and babushka. They’re often shortened for children to ded (grandfather) or baba (grandmother).
It’s the end of another year and the beginning of a new one.
Where did it go?
It’s been a ride.
I’ve enjoyed every one of those highs and lows on this roller coaster called life. All the ups and downs teach us lessons we need, to help us develop our mind, body and spirit.
We may stumble or have obstacles block us from going forward but they fall away once we accept this is the way it must be in that moment in time.
However you want to look at your life in 2019, the main thing to remember is that you are not alone. There is always someone guiding you in whatever form you choose to believe. Take comfort in knowing that the challenges your given are because you can endure them; no one gets what they cannot conquer.
Hold fast to your memories;
to all your cherished moments of the past;
to the blessings and the laughter;
to the joys and the celebrations;
to the sorrows and the tears;
They all add up to a treasure of fond yesterdays.
‘Thank You’ to everyone for being my supportive blogger friends. You’ve helped me to grow and become more than I was before I started this blog journey.
Another day is about to pass. With wide eyes, I see into the remains of the day. The red ink, in the blue milk skies, illuminating the world before dusk. I love you as the night loves shadow. I love the essence of all you are. Each time I see your handcrafted goblets, a smile invades my lips.
“ Nereida, meet me at our usual spot on the beach.”
~~~~~~
Memories rapidly flooded her mind. She remembered the first time they’d met. He was walking with his metal detector along the shore. She was photographing the hazy afternoon sky. He had glanced her way.
“Do you always photograph people passing by?”, he said.
“No, only the good looking ones,” she replied.
Thus, the beginning of what would turn out to be a whirlwind romance.
He’d found an antique timepiece that day. It would be her wedding gift.
Memories are a way of holding on to the people, pets and things you love.
You might be wondering, “How memories can nurture you?”
We all carry with us deep inside our beings every moment we’ve lived. It’s a treasure chest of good and bad memories. There are unpleasant moments we wish had never happened to us. Dreadful times, we wish we could erase.
Walking along with these miseries are the precious treasures we see as priceless. There are the memories of our parents who gave us life and fostered us to follow their guided path; there is the birth of our children we feel we miraculously created; there is a spouse or partner whose joined us on our journey to new horizons walking alongside of us.
Tattered edges all around those treasures are the times when our beings felt anguish, despair and sorrow. Those memories linger still; like worn and ragged photographs that are fading from time. You keep them in a secret room in your mind like a precious package of heirlooms. This love is deep in your heart but must be left behind. Yet, we cannot forget.
It’s important to look at our memories and love the ones we feel nurture us and discard or make peace with those we still find painful in our hearts.
Inside the Mind of Isadora 