Saturday, December 18, 2010

In Honor of an Incredible Woman

I read the following at the memorial service for one of my Mom's best friends today. I made it all the way through *proud smile* even if everyone else didn't ;)

"We all have families that we are born into, but sometimes families change, and we have to build our own."

Helen has always been 'Auntie Helen' in my life.

In fact she's been a part of our lives so long, that when my little brother was still smaller than me (I don't even outweigh him anymore) he lost a pair of brand new, itty bitty socks at her house... we'd only been there for a quick visit and so we finally blamed it on the dog... Keeley would eat *anything*...

Last week, my Mom found one of those socks in the record collection.

Auntie Helen taught me many things, among them:

The importance of tea time with friends, with honey of course.

That cats are people too, and that they choose their owners and that dogs, even when they lick the walls and eat egg shells need to be loved.

That even though you may not be able to *do* something to fix a problem, you must never underestimate the power of your voice.

That you need to fight for what you believe in, be it human rights, the environment, or the potential in someone the world has overlooked.

That you're never too old to dress up like a clown and give away smiles... dressed up or not, she always had free smiles and the best hugs.

Somehow she taught me the healing properties in music, even if you know you're not very good at it.
I sing because its good for the soul.
Not because it's good for anyone around me.

The neatest thing I learned about music though, is that even when a single voice is silenced in a harmony... although the resulting chorus will never be the same again...

Each of the remaining voices can come together in a new harmony honoring all those that have come before them by never being silenced.

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