30 years of dad & mom
congratulations & condolences
my mom's side of the family
a daughter is born
on wednesday morning
this first child by our "generation"
of six cousins
who grew up together like siblings
in the thursday twilight
of the hospital window
i hold my niece in my hands
a precious bundle of potential
my aunt takes her
and sings a song softly
my dad's side of the family
a father's heart fails him
on thursday night
an uncle i hardly knew
but the parent of a cousin
raised well to become a
smart, successful, faithful woman
at the sunday evening vigil
i look to her in the pew at the front
as the sound of
repeating hail mary's goes in
one ear and out the other
she is strong and resilient
her words at the end of the night
reflect a comfort in knowing
that he is with God now
oh this life’s dichotomy
from life and death in a given week
from singing lullabies in the maternity ward
to murmuring the rosary in the mortuary
a daughter is born
on wednesday morning
this first child by our "generation"
of six cousins
who grew up together like siblings
in the thursday twilight
of the hospital window
i hold my niece in my hands
a precious bundle of potential
my aunt takes her
and sings a song softly
my dad's side of the family
a father's heart fails him
on thursday night
an uncle i hardly knew
but the parent of a cousin
raised well to become a
smart, successful, faithful woman
at the sunday evening vigil
i look to her in the pew at the front
as the sound of
repeating hail mary's goes in
one ear and out the other
she is strong and resilient
her words at the end of the night
reflect a comfort in knowing
that he is with God now
oh this life’s dichotomy
from life and death in a given week
from singing lullabies in the maternity ward
to murmuring the rosary in the mortuary
"naked i come from my mother's womb, and naked i will depart. the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away"
life knocks, life's knocks
so, my little amelie, you don't have bones of glass.full of life and love from an evening of amelie and a homemade meal of kimchee fried rice and sapporo with two dear friends, i felt compelled to e-mail a kindred soul and advise her to take a risk of the heart since i had not been able to in a similar situation in the past.
you can take life's knocks.
if you let this chance pass,
eventually, your heart will become as dry and brittle as my skeleton.
so, go get him, for pete's sake!
of course i could not guarantee how things would turn out. though the assumption was that the best that could happen would be worth the chance.
and she was bold. bolder than i could ever be.
but still she came the tumbling down. i felt horrible. was i wrong in my vicarious recommendation?
after a flurry of consolation e-mails and chats back and forth, i was comforted with the fact that indeed she really was better off. not for having achieved the outcome she wanted, but for not letting the opportunity pass and expressing how she felt at that moment.
simple lesson, long time coming: say what you feel when you feel it.
on a related note: i have been slacking on my blog game. let's fix that.
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