Saturday February 11th, 2023, will mark a year for my mom’s passing and a decade for my dad. My little girl just turned 10!!! She has my dad in her; her soul entered while her Saba’s (grandpa) departed….out of all places in Israel, she was born in a place called kfar Sabah (the village of Granpa)!!! And I know she has her Savata (grandma) in her as she was my mom’s first experience of ultrasound though she gave life to 13 kids!!!! Nothing is ever a coincidence.
And while I usually love to write these letters to you early morning Fridays, right before I enter an elevated spirit of Shabbat, I write this instead, Monday, February 6th, but will send it on Friday. Read onward and you’ll see why….
As I woke up early to take Carrie’s class which was beyond amazing and made me so proud, while in my morning meditation mode, I was in deep contemplation, as I could not believe it has been a year for my Imma (mom) and a decade for Abbah (dad)!
Furthermore, I was somehow reminded of how my mom chose to depart on the same month she had lost everyone and everything she had, on February 29th, 1960, during the horrible earthquake in Agadir’s, Morocco, which believed to have been the tragic reason for close to 20,000 people dead, leaving many more injured, orphaned, and homeless.
I get back from Carrie’s class, after moving some emotions around and reading some news, devastated to learn about the tragic, overwhelming loss in Turkey! Another horrible earthquake, another bloody February…..
What IS LEFT IS WHO WE BECOME :
My personal memory of my parents is warm, deep and comforting and I’m deeply reminded of how loved my 13 siblings and myself felt, plus two my parents loved as if they were their own; one, my mom’s little nephew, and her baby sister, the only family survivors….
I know very well, from dear friends, students and dear colleagues in the mental health profession, that this is often NOT the case. That pain, estrangement and in many cases, trauma, is the profound feel many have of their parents….
However the memory is, the truth that remains – WHAT IS LEFT IS WHO WE BECOME!
If you were deeply loved and learned the skill of sacred parenting and of community service, consider yourself lucky and I hope you pass it onward to generations to come, blood related or not.
If you were not as loved and even hurt, who and what you become is still what is left…..what will live on….
It is just that what you will become IS NOT THANKS TO WHO THEY WERE BUT IS ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING THEY FAILED TO BE…..you start a new chain, a new path…..raising a generation that WILL BECOME BECAUSE OF …..YOU ❤️ Be your future generation’s change!!!
What we become and who we choose to be is ALL that is left and All that WILL be left when we are gone!
Let’s leave behind a trail of big free love to our kids and anyone around…..of LOVE with NO questions and NO doubts, and NO conditions…..of giving back, of caring, of service and a moment of silence for tragic loses all around us…..
In my little sacred world of Neshama, and in honor of two humble people, who always gave from the little they had, come enjoy one class with no pay and pass love onward….❤️
. I’m sure soon enough, you would too…). I do hope you enjoy it and if it ever gets you through the day, drop a comment and let me know.