A model has passed

Growing up an getting older never has quite the dramatic impact until you experience the passing of your parents. And, the most dramatic passing is that of your mother. With this you feel that your connection has been severed, not unlike the actual umbilical cord that connected your life to the life of your mother. Through this physical connection you grew up knowing that Mom was a powerful force. She was one to fiercely protect you; however, at the same time, one that you wanted to mind due to having observed that same fierce intensity. But, you learn how not to stir this ire from within Mom, and you feel the wonderful love that this bond with Mom has to offer. Because, you are a part of her! She sets an example for you to see and for you to follow (because we all heard at one point or another "do as I say not as I do", but it really is those actions that lay the foundations for your actions)and she means well in her actions toward you for you are her child.

This week I found out that the Mother of a close friend of mine had died on Monday the 5th of January 2009. And I shared in the pain of this passing, because like the model to shape my behavior that my mother was, Emily Dorsey Ford was also a model whose example was always set to be observed and train children. As if I had been one of her own brood, Emily was a bright shining example of life worth living, and how to grasp that feeling of good from the world around you by always cultivating a sense of wonder. Explore and expand and take a rose hips vitamin C were words and actions that Emily would expound. The effect that Emily had will be multiplied not just through her presence in her immediate family, but outward to the extended family that she guided and cared for because she loved all of those that were befriended to her children as her own, and you never felt unloved in her presence.

I felt the passing of my Father in March of 2005 and the passing of my Mother in June of 2006, and this is like the passing of another Mother to me. Painful, but the pain will become only a gentle angst in future days knowing that within me I have the influence of a second Mother from whom I will share the love I give and the examples I set for the next generation based on having known Emily.

Emily rest in peace knowing that the family you raised knew your love, learned how to love others, and are loved by the ones who know them and knew you in this life.