In Memoriam

Jesse is away, but the purpose of this post is not to keep him "in the loop," as is our norm when he travels, but to reflect on the reason for his absence. Last Thursday, April 10th, Ma Penha -- Jesse's maternal grandmother -- passed away. Josiah and I have not joined Jesse for the 3-day trip to Brockton, Massachusetts to be part of the celebration and mourning of Ma's passing. Although the reasons for this decision were several, chief among them was the fact that less than a month ago, we all drove north to celebrate Ma's 90th birthday. It was a wonderful weekend, and Ma thoroughly enjoyed the surprise and joy of having her entire family show up from around the country for this milestone in her life. We had a private room for an enormous lunch as a family, and we spent several hours sharing stories of Ma and expressing our love for her. So often we regret waiting for a funeral to let people know how we love them. Little did we know that this sadder event would so soon follow, and what a privilege to have done it the right way around. The photo here is from the party. You can see here she was beautiful in years, and what the picture doesn't show I can tell you: she loved her family fiercely and proudly, she held to life tenaciously, and she was as courageous and strong as women come.