tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post8770345059529894354..comments2023-12-30T17:31:11.883+00:00Comments on The Solitary Walker: In My Father's HouseThe Solitary Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11284354541952038339noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-16565911661814401412009-02-08T16:02:00.000+00:002009-02-08T16:02:00.000+00:00I just found every single one of these comments so...I just found every single one of these comments so beautiful and moving that I am quite humbled before them - and find great comfort in them. Thank you so much.The Solitary Walkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11284354541952038339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-16958788045768657032009-02-07T20:12:00.000+00:002009-02-07T20:12:00.000+00:00What a wonderful find while going through your mot...What a wonderful find while going through your mother and father's house. Your mother's commonplace book!<BR/><BR/>"Blessed are those who do not do what is reasonable, decent and convenient - for they shall be followers of Christ."<BR/><BR/>My mother learned to make real Yorkshire Pudding from her mother. The recipe came down several more generations before from England. When I was a child, we were asked what we would like for our birthday dinner. My choice was always roast beef and Yorkshire Pudding. Thanks for the reminder.<BR/><BR/>I don't think of myself as a Christian but I may well be a follower of Christ.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-61984577630932557572009-02-05T22:05:00.000+00:002009-02-05T22:05:00.000+00:00Very hard. I don't know if I'd call it catharsis -...Very hard. I don't know if I'd call it catharsis - more like a sense of those times are gone forever. I particularly remember tossing box after box of negatives from a lifetime of picture taking. Saved the prints - my sister has those many boxes now stored somewhere, hopefully for some other generation to muse through. There is a relief when it is finally over, and now, seven years later, I can look back fairly well healed. I say that as I just finish up from two days of searching through all the legal documents from my mother's death eleven years back, and my father's old records to find evidence of some small property transaction that for some reason never got recorded by the county, and that discrepancy has now cropped up, years later.Timecheckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03655966328174898998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-20635680568401991052009-02-05T21:32:00.000+00:002009-02-05T21:32:00.000+00:00It's the play of memory and imagination during gri...It's the play of memory and imagination during grief that adds itself - suddenly all the useless bits of papers and things take on new meaning. And the guilt of throwing away something that is useless but has been kept for decades...keeping some things for now is okay, grief is a a journey too.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-8286604936143088352009-02-05T18:46:00.000+00:002009-02-05T18:46:00.000+00:00I know and understand all too well what you're goi...I know and understand all too well what you're going through, Solitary. When my mother passed away, it was only me and my memories to go through the house, cleaning out, uncovering, discarding, saving. She was 94 when she died, and a lifetime "saver" of stuff. I had to work in small doses, a few hours at a shot. And sometimes I'd find something which simply broke my heart, or filled me with such sadness and longing for family that I had to sit and wipe a flow of tears.<BR/><BR/>It does have to be done, of course. Just as so many other matters must be done following a death. Which doesn't make any of it a whit easier.<BR/><BR/>Blessed are those who feel pain—for they shall find comfort.<BR/><BR/>Blessed are those who face sadness—for they shall discover joy.<BR/><BR/>Blessed are those who know life—for they shall understand love.Grizz…………https://www.blogger.com/profile/04828454689578685330noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-67629296641801948722009-02-05T18:17:00.000+00:002009-02-05T18:17:00.000+00:00I understand most deeply how you have to 'cut off'...I understand most deeply how you have to 'cut off' and be dispassionate ...<BR/><BR/>The line 'Blessed are those who know how to run risks - for they shall be secure,' reminds me of a phrase I read by Helen Keller. I do not have the quote at hand but it was talking about not chasing after security ... 'Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.' I learnt that the more I scrabbled for security the less I had inside - and vice versa.Raph G. Neckmannhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02468502742144495020noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319797996494487653.post-19599988998888831332009-02-05T14:16:00.000+00:002009-02-05T14:16:00.000+00:00Love those modern beatitudes Robert. Yes - clear...Love those modern beatitudes Robert. Yes - clearing out the house and coming across all manner of things which hold memories is hard, but it has to be done and when it is done there will be a sense of catharsis, I promise you.The Weaver of Grasshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13947971556343746883noreply@blogger.com