Gone…

But not forgotten.

Pat at 6 - the number of years since she died

 I have written other blogs on the theme, but every year on several dates those that I have “loved and lost” come to mind. Some years are harder than others and no matter how often I repeat “they are not entirely gone as long as someone remembers that they once lived and were loved” there are moments when that remains simply what it is: a trite phrase.

Today is one such and if I still feel that I was honored and privileged to be there when my little sister took her last breath, I still wish that she were here.

It was a different day, neither totally sad, nor totally normal.

I wandered around doing errands – and found myself eating (of all things) a burrito in her honor and remembering how good the ones were locally in her old town.

Pat – you are no longer physically here – yet you are always present in our hearts. RIP

Sunset, Sunrise

Dents de Morcle, VS, Switzerland, Sept. 18, 2014

Dents de Morcle, VS, Switzerland, Sept.18, 2014

Dents de Morcle, VS, Switzerland - Sept. 19, 2014

I know, one usually writes sunrise, sunset, but sometimes the beauty of the order is that it can be reversed: this is how it happened for the above three pictures.

One follows the other in any case, in a never-ending process visible from anywhere in the world: some are beautiful, some ugly, both exist; we only have to notice.

There is a certain comfort in the thought that we are so finite, that something larger than ourselves, an order from the chaos, does continue in a never-ending cycle, regardless of our presence.

I still miss you little sister!

Patricia J. Aitken

September 27, 1952 - September 19, 2012