yes ,we live our lives often thinking they will never end---Anthony leaves us facing the mystery of life and death enveloped in a solemn silence ,grieving what we knew and what we still had hoped to know better--a man whose life vessel overflowed with stories,ideas. and razor sharp observations about the world he participated in, as fully as possible ! and then again ,there was the Anthony whose sparkling eyes emboided a childlike wonder and joy that was irresistibly contagious.
Anthony had a "special friend"-the archangel Michael -
maybe he was his guardian angel... I could believe that and so
I offer this Celtic verse in remembrance of this unique relationship:
dear angel of my birth
all of my life´s loss
red-golden of fallen flowers,
shells after ebbing waves,
gathered on lonely shores
within the secret toils of love
Deathless in memory save
the treasures of my grave.
yes, we are left to sieve through memories with the questions and longings of our hearts,
May Anthony´s life and death assist us in the lifelong task of (as the Irish say)
"ag fillead ar do du´càs"-
rediscovering and living fully who we are called to be in this world.
May we hear eternal echoes in the absence we now experience,
and sense around us the secret "Elsewhere", which holds the presences that are no longer visible to us.
in gratitude and love,
(sister-in-law)
Judy
