Ernestine
November 28, 2005
Me and my grandma at Virginia Beach.
For my grandma.
"The most profound experiences of my life have the cumulative effect of making me accept death as another part of this trajectory whose vertiginous curve we follow without being able to stop even for a moment. I find myself increasingly compelled to agree, in my provisional position, with this Everything where life and death incessantly penetrate and merge with each other. The angel of my affirmations turns a radiant face toward death. Although life requires so much else, it is above all death that has been weighed down by so much bad suspicion. For this reason I would like to rehabilitate it by placing it in that central spot, which it never left but from which all eyes have been averted. I consider it my task to demonstrate that death constitutes part of the wealth of this formidable Everything of which life is perhaps the tiniest part, even though it already surpasses our means and measures with such abundance. For this change in attitude to be completely accepted, we need as our premise events filled with constancy and permanence – and I too can state that I feel ‘so very much the same in spirit and in body,’ and that once I consent infinitely to the necessary transformations and to all of the good-byes imposed on us by the sovereign rhythm, I can see the fog of all these changes becoming transparent thanks to our flame, which passes through it without ever going out." -Rainier Maria Rilke
Wow-what a powerful post. It actually helped me put the death of my 5 year nephew into a new perspective. Thank you for that. It has been 5 months now and I actually have not been able to wrap my mind around it. I think I may have moved past something here.
I’ve never read this quote before and am printing it out and tucking it aside– it is a powerful source of comfort and perspective. Thank you so much for sharing it!
god love our grandmas…what a powerful
quote.
wow! i’m not certain i can even take it all in. what a beautiful expression of acceptance.
I was thinking about my grandmother while reading this…my Italian grandmother…the person I’ve loved more than just about anyone in my entire family…and I realized that I’ve finally (20 years after her death) reached an okay place about her being gone. That doesn’t mean that I still don’t miss her, sometimes painfully so…but I think I’ve crossed over to a place where I’m content to know that she’s ‘here’ (wherever THAT is!)…and that she sees…even if I don’t see her… Beautiful, beautiful quote.
This quote…wow…i am always searching for ways to begin to understand the death of my grandmother (earlier this year). Thank you for sharing this piece as it is another, powerful, way to look at it.
Great post. And great hair!!