... is still my mom's birthday, though she is no longer here to celebrate the occasion. It is so firmly embedded in my mind, it will always be a day of thoughtful remembrance. I had a conversation about her with a friend recently. Not someone who knew her, but someone who knows me pretty well, warts and all. Which would have put me in a reflective frame of mind, even if the 29th were not a day that causes me to think of her.
In the years since they both died, I have had a remembrance notice printed in the newspaper in that little south Georgia burg where they spent most of their lives. A small town with a small town newspaper, that might have two or three obituaries to print on a weekly basis, or maybe six, or possibly one. Plus memorial notices on the birthday of a departed loved one, or the anniversary of a death. You may think me maudlin, but I just can't/won't forget. I guess I keep sending photos, with words of thoughtful consideration to remind the people who are still there. Folks who would have known them from church, or civic work, neighbors or casual friends. To prod their memories so they will remember what lively people those two were, while they were there, active and involved.
When I sent in my info. last week, to be printed in this weeks edition, I enclosed a photo. Along with the sweet quote from Robert Fulghum. The guy who is more famously known for the poster you might remember: "All I Need to Know, I Learned In Kindergarten." (Be kind, hold hands, take naps, have milk and cookies when you get up from your nap, etc.) The other quote, the one in the newspaper that is in the memorial ad. for my mom:
"I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge.
That myth is more potent than history.
That dreams are more powerful than facts.
That hope always triumphs over experience.
That laughter is the only cure for grief.
And I believe that love is stronger than death."
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