BELOVED FACES #WRITEAPAGEADAY #BLOGCHATTER
Taken for granted, almost as if they would always be around,
a security blanket.
Life was a cocoon, where I was enveloped with a love that kept me warm,
As I danced through life, too young to foresee a world that could also be grey.
My grandfathers, erudite, strong and capable to holding a
world of knowledge
Within their heads. My grandmothers, pious, talented,
homemakers to the hilt,
They smelt of sandalwood and camphor, of fresh hair oil
made of karaga grass,
Smells that wafted into my life decades after when they
were no longer around.
My sisters and I hung about the kitchen when my
grandmother treated us to
Pinwheel sandwiches after school. My other
grandmother would open
Her cellar and out would appear the softest cupcakes, thoughtfully
Procured from the best bakery in town, days we could never forget.
The cruellest stroke came when my father, who had never been ill in his life,
Left us bereft when his heart gave way, at the young age of forty-two.
The gentlest of men, his presence made a
difference to all, as did his absence
A grievous blow to us all, our mother and his
three young daughters.
While we wept our tiny hearts out, a bigger tragedy
played out around us.
His grandmother and my mother’s grandmother were still
alive, his parents and
His wife’s parents had to suffer the loss of a vibrant
son so young and loving.
Our first brush with Death, a brush that came
without warning,
A lone bird sang
in the barren silence, the notes sweet and plaintive.
I never heard those notes again. They were a goodbye, an
adieu, an au revoir.
One by one, the loved faces disappeared as the
years went by, each one leaving
A teardrop in our eye, a lament in our hearts.
The world seemed the same.
We felt the loss of each face we would never
see again, hands we would never
Clasp again. Slowly, our worlds opened up,
new people appeared.
We got married, new bonds and new faces as
dear, the years bringing
Joy and fulfilment. Our lives moved on, branching off in myriad directions.
One day, another loved face
disappeared, my father-in-love,
A family man of principles, upright to the core, who melted at the sight
Of his beloved granddaughters who, in turn, doted
on him. He waited to meet
His tiny great-grandson, blessed him, and then gently wafted away like a sigh.
So many precious memories of faces are housed in our hearts. They reappear
In photographs, sometimes in a fragment of a dream, all too real.
We will never know where they dwell; we say to them in prayers with
Hearts filled with love, “Dear ones, wherever you
are, may you be at peace!”
Postscript: Today, the 13th of February, is a poignant day for our family. Two wonderful people left us on this day. My maternal grandmother, my Ammamma, who held our family together went away 30 years ago. The other person was my father-in-love (we do not believe in using the term 'in-law' in our family who departed nineteen years ago.
They walk beside us in spirit every day.
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I feel sometimes we write about those beloved faces so we could have them a little more closer to us. This is poignant & moving, Deepti. Sending hugs your way. Take care.
ReplyDeleteSeetha, thank you so much for your heartwarming comment. Yes, maybe that is why we write about those we have loved and lost. Sending hugs back to you...
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