As we prepare to leave our job or this world we might reflect on our legacy and what kind of elder or ancestor we want to be. Ten years after she passed at 111 I remember my grandmother every day. And when I do I laugh, because she laughed often, made others laugh, and I love to make people laugh too. I feel courageous when I remember her dignity, morality, and outrage at injustice. When I do what needs to be done to the best of my ability without complaining I know she's passed on a valuable life lesson.
Grandmother is with me when I give from my heart without concern for what's in it for me. Pausing in reverie in a moment of natural beauty like a plum blossom in winter reminds me of her strength in adversity. When I respectfully see and hear strangers as the special persons they are I feel her presence. And if I can find the goodness in others and believe in them, accepting them and tenderly loving them for their human frailties I know she lives on in me.
Inspiring way to connect, feel, and perceive!