Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Lost in Light: A Tribute to My Grandmother

Three years ago today, my grandmother Adele Sunshine passed away. She was an amazing woman. There are many people more qualified than I who could tell you about all she did. I know that she taught special education in inner city schools, had six children with an incredible number of advanced degrees between them, traveled the world, collected jigsaw puzzles and cared for a magnificent 3-story Victorian house until she was well into her 80s. Unfortunately, she moved to Tennessee just as I was becoming old enough to appreciate what an incredible person she was, and I visited her only once every year or two after that point. I love her so much, and I wish I had known her better.

Anyway, I wrote this poem around the time of her death but only now have worked up the courage to share it.

Lost in Light

I watch the embers of your heart
that glistened, glowed all these long years
grow dim.  I see the creeping night
and feel the swelling weight of tears.

I see resplendent fireworks
that flashed against a velvet sky
fade into brittle golden dust,
doomed to disintegrate and die.

I see an end to all I knew of you,
love’s promised heights unreached,
a book slammed shut before the end,
then burned to ash, no more to teach.

Your path winds upward into mist
that veils your destination’s peak,
as from my eyes you quickly fade,
too distant now to see or speak.

My eyes must close to see the truth
that though the path you tread is steep,
you now can soar on borrowed wings
to Him who made the lame to leap.

A star dissolving in the dawn,
you fade away from earthly sight,
but eyes of faith can look beyond,

to see you laughing, lost in light.

3 comments:

  1. Thank you. I had a precious grandmother, who died many years ago, but will not be forgotten because of the life she lived daily.

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  2. I knew Mrs. Adele Sunshine all of my life, She was a great mother, and teacher. I was always amazed by her puzzle collection growing up. She challenged her boys to figure them out. It seemed whenever I came over to play, (that's what we did in those days, no TV, video games, or computers) there would be a puzzle on the dining room table. Either Don, Doug or Glen would be sitting there working on the puzzle. Some of the puzzles were very large, and complicated. At some point they were all completed. I remember the erector set designs (more like a 3 Dimensional puzzle) being built. These were my favorite to sit at the table and help with. Mrs. Sunshine as I called her, had another very special trick up her sleeve, that in my young eyes, put her into SUPER HERO status. I watched her rip a three inch thick BELL Telephone phone book in half. Needless to say I was always I my best behavior when Mrs Sunshine was home. I have many great memories growing up with the Sunshine family we lived only two houses apart in a very nice neighborhood. We grew up together, it was a different time for sure. We could play on their front porch for eight hours, from sun up to sun down, and we had a great time. My world, growing up was a wonderful place to be. Mrs Adele Sunshine was a big part of my childhood. Elizabeth that was a very nice poem and I know grandmother has a big smile on her face watching over you.

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  3. Techfall150, after my grandmother's funeral, I walked up to my dad and said, "I didn't know Grandma was a superhero." I feel completely inadequate to describing what she was like. Thank you for doing it so well.

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