Last week I attended my Aunt Leah’s funeral. (Technically Aunt Leah is my great aunt but who’s getting technical?) Having Aunt Leah on the other side (now reunited with her mother and father, sister, two brothers, husband, and twin daughters who have gone before her) will certainly change things for those of us left behind on this side. She was an incredible women, a powerful force. If you knew her at all you know what I’m talking about. My mom wrote a wonderful post about her which says it all perfectly. You can read it here.
Attending Aunt Leah’s funeral was a powerful experience for me. I couldn’t stop thinking about how blessed I am. I’m blessed to know some truly amazing women in my life. I‘m blessed to be related to some truly amazing women and to have the influence of these good women all around me everyday. I realized, as I sat there at the funeral listening to the stories about Aunt Leah’s life, as the speakers mentioned my grandmother and great grandmother, my mom, aunts and cousins; I realized how much and how often I draw strength from the lives and examples of the good women around me, those here on earth as well as those on the other side.
The picture above includes some of these good women of whom I speak…my incredible mother of course (in the darling red polk-dot dress), my Aunt Kathy, my Great Grandmother Amalia (whom I’ve never met in person but whose life has had a profound impact on mine regardless) my sweet Grandma Winnie whom I miss everyday, and of course Aunt Leah up there on the back row. (Also included in the picture are my mom’s cousins Teri, Winnie, and the twins Jeanine and Jalane, 4 other incredible women who have blessed my life).
My Uncle Paul spoke at Leah’s funeral. He spoke about how Aunt Leah, along with many others before her have left legacies for the rest of us still on this earth, legacies of faith, devotion, strength, loyalty, endurance, hard work, service and love. I was overwhelmed with gratitude as I considered how right he was and how lucky that made me. I found a renewed energy to live my life better, to give more, to be more like these strong, good women.
My mother, my mother in-law, my grandmothers, aunts, cousins, sister in-laws, good friends, neighbors, my beautiful daughter…I’m so lucky to know some of the best women on the planet. I want to name each one of you individually but this blog post would be so very long if I did.
I think what I’m trying to say here is this…whenever I consider how I should live my life, I don’t have to look very far to find the answers. With all the messages, ideas and pressure about what women should do and be and become in this world of ours, I know exactly what I want to be, do and become, and for that I’m am truly blessed.
7 comments:
Beautiful post Jill, You say exactly what I have been thinking. We do have so many wonderful women in our family!!!
Thanks for singing at the funeral, it was beautiful.
Just one more thing jill, would you please put a label on me and I think Paul. At least then Brad can see that sometimes I do not have curlers in my hair! thanks
Lovely post, Jill. We have both been blessed with many wonderful women in our lives! I count you as one of those women in my life!
Great post. Those women have blessed countless lives -- what a legacy.
Your readers may be interested in my cousin Evan's comment, when you told him at the funeral, "I'm here representing my Mom". He quickly shot back, "You'll have to be lot louder and bossier."
There seemed to be a consensus at the funeral that your Mom will fill the matriarch role in the family when she gets back, now that Leah is gone.
Who knows, you may be the next in line after her -- those are big shoes to fill.
Our heritage makes all the difference in our lives. I'm glad you have such powerful women as your examples. I am getting a little nervous, though, as I have as many on the other side now as I do here. I hope they're pulling for me!
It is a grand thing to know of the strength in generations past because you know you must have inherited a particle of the power they had. I saw it in my mother's generation and I see it in you and your generation. It is an honor to be related to all of you.
What a great post. Funerals have a way of making "the bigger picture" of life so much clearer. They are great reminders of what we are doing here. Sounds like you have a great Legacy of women to follow :)
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