A Family is a River

Some years ago, during the bleak months/years following the death of my dashing (now not so) young Scotsman, my daughter on behalf of her baby son, gave me a little book entitled 365 Reflections on Grandmothers.  This was meant to and succeeded in cheering me.

Today, when flicking through the book I came upon this quote:

“A family is a river;
some of it has passed on and
more is to come and nothing is still,
because we all move along day by day
toward our destination”.  Dolores Garcia

I don’t know who Dolores Garcia is – I Googled her name and came up with several – but whoever she is she has succinctly put the family into words. It is the kind of poetry that I would like to write.  In fact, I wish I had written it.

We know that family members move on – Mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, husbands, wives, children all come into our family and make themselves part of it and are sorely missed when they move on.

In their place come more people to swell the numbers of the family.  Children marry and produce children of their own, who in turn marry and also produce children.

More people become part of our now extended family.  Through marriages, we acquire other relations, children, their siblings and families.

So nothing stays the same – nothing is still. Nor should we expect it to stay the same.  Change is inevitable as we move through our allotted time on earth.

If like me, you have these strong family ties they will keep you tethered and sane when all seems to be out of control.  Whether you see them on a regular basis, or only infrequently, you know that you can count on family members for support and succour comfort when needed.

 

 

 

 

Here is my attempt :

“Life like a river flows around us
and changes occur in the family formation;
Those we love move on and
in doing so leave huge gaps in the familiar structure.
Soon though, others come into the tight family unit;
Not to replace those who have moved on
but to bolster and fill the gaps and then
to take their own place in this entity we call family.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

….

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