In Memory of Marcia R. Moore

Yesterday was the 15-year anniversary of my grandma's death from cancer. I still have moments when I miss her so much - like it all just happened, like it wasn't a decade and a half ago. Her death had a huge impact on my life, but her life (thankfully) even more so.

I wish so many of you could have known her. She was funny, and compassionate, and a bit of a rebel. But she taught me so much about loving God, and she truly trained me up "in the way I should go."

I've posted a couple of pictures. The first one is obviously Grandma in her youth - long before I was even thought of. :)

The second is her with her two middle boys - my dad (waving - look at those legs!) and my uncle Tom (with the goofy face). She had six kids all together - Dick, Bill, Jim (my dad), Tom, Rob, and Princess - that would be my aunt Lou. It was a rough life, but she was an amazing woman.

I think I get my wanderlust, sense of fun, and creativity largely from her. Thanks, Grandma.

And here's one of the poems I wrote about her after her death. Forgive me, but it's a little depressing. Also forgive me, because this is actually one of my better ones. (Yeah, so you can see why I don't really write poetry any more!)

1924 - 1991
Your legacy is a cold marble stone
with your name and a couple of dates,
as if you were only sixty-seven years
from here - to there.
Some might say you were
like a rock, like this
slab we placed as a
monument to your death?
Even the flowers I
brought you don't fit.
I'm missing a few pieces still -
this puzzle - because I
don't understand.

I thought this would be a milestone -
coming here -
but it's only a gravestone.
We gave you a park, some flowers,
a few companions, and a
rock to mark your unresting place.
I'm not happy with this arrangement -
it's all cut-and-dried.
I'm not God, or cancer, or time,
and I don't decide.
Not how any of us plan these things -
this death - because we
don't understand.

If I could have my way...
but tradition doesn't listen.
And if I were in the business of making
symbols, I would have thrown away
this stone.
This stone for this seed I plant.
So small, so helpless, it will take
root and grow - forever -
live wrapped around and
in you, like a memory.
But I am forbidden -
this seed - to
understand.

Ode to Michael Gray, 2004 - 2006

I was going to wait until Friday to post this, since that's MPG's last day, but I feel like doing it now (read: I don't feel like doing the work I should be doing). So here goes....

For Michael, my cubemate, cohort, and all-around favorite ho (or is that hoe?)... anyway, I just wanted to say I'm going to miss ya. Yes, your sarcasm is brutal and you've made me cry so many times I've lost count, but for as many bruises and cuts you've inflicted, you've made me laugh 3 times as much. And God knows, we need that around here.

Good luck, God bless, happy trails to you. I'm gonna miss sharing laughs of derision with you.

Another Profundity w/ Expletive

I know, this is copping out. I should be posting about how I think we've found THE HOUSE we want. Or maybe how school is winding up and I'm waaaaayyy behind on my last project. Or how this allergy season is kicking my butt and I feel so miserable, I want to claw my eyes out. Or maybe I just post an obnoxious plea for you (yes, YOU) to respond to that email I sent you about IKEA coming to Canton, MI, because if you sign up under me then I get points. And the more points I get, the closer I get to becoming an IKEA Tokig, which gives me priveleges at the store. And since I lost everything I own in a terrible fire *sniffle* I can use all the help I can get to replace it. Especially with affordable, economical IKEA. (There, was that obnoxious enough?) Ha!

But what I'm really writing about is this quote I found through the blog of a blog (you know how that goes). And this is actually a quote, but it includes the s-word. Twice. OOOHHHH... I warned ya! This is from Tony Campolo, a man who Pastor Mike just yesterday said he admired. How's that for justification, baby?

"'Tens of thousands of children died last night because of poverty related issues and we don't give a shit.'

"After a brief moment of silence he continues.

"'What's disturbing to me is that just now, in that brief moment of silence, more of you were concerned with the fact that I said the word shit than with the fact that tens of thousands of children died last night.'"

And if you're interested, I found that quote through this post, which in turn was found through this post. But I didn't bother reading through all the comments at the bottom.