Askin' a Bearded Man for a Shave.
I haven't shaved in years--maybe some weed-whacking with a scissors, but that's about it. So, when brain cancer robbed Dad of his sight, I pointed out that two of his daughters were highly-trained medical people--wouldn't they do better at shaving him than I? Nope. He felt a man, his son, would do a proper job of shaving another man's face.
So I went after it with the his old tired razor that must have been used to scrape paint. It was dull as a butter knife, but we got the job done.
It's one of my best memories of 2014--though at the time, I wouldn't have thought so. Now that year's calendar is about to go into the recycling and I'm still digesting all the endings that came with 2014.
I suppose we all grieve in our own way. I appreciate the tradition from the Rez--where you give it a rest for a year. And it hasn't been a year yet for me. The prohibition on speaking the name of the departed, or displaying their photo--I see the wisdom of it. I'm apt to let things fester, so that's a good rule.
Well, maybe more of a guideline for the moment though--just taking stock of things as we head into the New Year. Fear and Hope, Loss and Gain, Past and Future. It takes Trust to embrace Now--like a blind man asking a bearded barber for a shave. Thanks Dad.
Askin' a Bearded Man for a Shave.
I haven't shaved in years--maybe some weed-whacking with a scissors, but that's about it. So, when brain cancer robbed Dad of his sight, I pointed out that two of his daughters were highly-trained medical people--wouldn't they do better at shaving him than I? Nope. He felt a man, his son, would do a proper job of shaving another man's face.
So I went after it with the his old tired razor that must have been used to scrape paint. It was dull as a butter knife, but we got the job done.
It's one of my best memories of 2014--though at the time, I wouldn't have thought so. Now that year's calendar is about to go into the recycling and I'm still digesting all the endings that came with 2014.
I suppose we all grieve in our own way. I appreciate the tradition from the Rez--where you give it a rest for a year. And it hasn't been a year yet for me. The prohibition on speaking the name of the departed, or displaying their photo--I see the wisdom of it. I'm apt to let things fester, so that's a good rule.
Well, maybe more of a guideline for the moment though--just taking stock of things as we head into the New Year. Fear and Hope, Loss and Gain, Past and Future. It takes Trust to embrace Now--like a blind man asking a bearded barber for a shave. Thanks Dad.