05 January, 2015

#MicroblogMondays: He belonged to all of us



On Boxing Day (the day after Christmas), a group of my cousins got together. An uncle – unmarried and with no children - had died a few months earlier, and we were preparing to scatter his ashes.

After we’d had a picnic and an all too brief catch-up (including the obligatory introductions to the children who had all appeared since our last meetings), we adjourned to the local cemetery to scatter some of his ashes on his parents’ grave. We then visited other family graves, and reminisced about the years when we were young and growing up together. 

Some of the cousins – those who had spent more time with my uncle in recent years - went home with little cannisters of ashes.

“At first, I didn’t like the idea of dividing his ashes and giving them out to everyone,” grimaced one cousin. 

“But then I thought about his life, the fact he had no children or wife, or other family. And it seemed right, because ... really ... he belonged to all of us.”

12 comments:

  1. I'm so sorry for your loss, Mali. But this post is a beautiful reminder that we are never alone in this world. Thinking of you during this time.

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    1. Cristy, that's exactly what I wanted to convey. The beauty of my cousin's thought - that he was not alone, but belonged to all of us.

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  2. I am sorry for the loss of your uncle. It sounds like he was special to many people. Thank you for sharing this heartfelt story. Sending thoughts your way.

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  3. I am sorry for the loss of your uncle.

    What a beautiful explanation gave your cousin!

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  4. What a fitting tribute to a wonderful man! This gives me hope for people in our position.

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  5. This was lovely. Thank you!

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  6. I am so sorry for your loss. I love, love, love the way your cousin explained the feelings about splitting the ashes that way -- what a beautiful idea and sentiment. Beautiful.

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  7. I'm so sorry for your loss ... but how beautiful that you all get to carry a part of him with you into your lives, as you would in your hearts.

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  8. I'm sorry for the loss of your uncle, but I'm glad your cousin could mark his farewell with such a beautiful sentiment.

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  9. I'm so sorry for your loss. He reminds me of my uncle (my dad's youngest brother). Never married and no children, either. What your cousin said was so beautiful that I have tears in my eyes now...

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  10. I'm so sorry for your loss. But I love that idea of how we belong to all the people whose lives we touch, especially family.

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  11. So sorry to hear about the loss of your uncle.

    I really love your cousin's comment. I often worry about who will be around when I die... who will care and when I read something like that it leaves me thinking that there are always those people whose lives you've touched and you do belong to all of them :)

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