On gratitude
"It was a party, and Chris would have been pissed she missed it. It was a party with stories about her, with poems, with music, with dancing, with a feast and free-flowing wine and friends old and new." - Auspice
It seems quite easy to say "I had a great time at the wedding!", but a it feels a little odd to say the same about a memorial. Nevertheless, a good time was had.
There was indeed music and poetry and dancing. There was wine and a feast. There were family and friends, there was a party atmosphere. There were tears and laughter, joy in sharing. There was sunshine and sunburn. There was a togetherness.
Memories aplenty. Uncle Rob got up and told the story of Christine's adoption of his name for her middle name, and the ceremony he arranged for it. Others spoke of of love for others, for Tess and family, yet more of her devotion to planting trees, enjoying the environment, art, crafts, dance and beauty, tea. Noders spoke of her soul and spirit, shared here, of her dedication to community. Friends, fellow dancers and colleagues talked of her devotion to hard work, her love of beauty.
Some sent letters, had them read. Some sang, danced, or read words of fitting spirit and beauty. All shed tears. All laughed. There were hugs and kindnesses and sharing of life. All spoke of love, all shared delightful memories. All stood together to honour the memory of a great and wonderful spirit. That was the common theme.
We all had some tears, talked about her role as a mother, wife, lover. Tessie and I had a few tears together, of course. That young Tess is a marvel, and was so well supported by her friends and family. I'm so lucky that she agreed to my becoming a part of the family. Surrounded by people who love her, she'll be fine.
Some thanks to you all
Christine joined this place as grundoon, spent many hours working, writing, communicating and supporting. Many of you have known her far longer than I, and to you I say "thank you". Thank you for helping her in her first steps here, thank you for the love and support you showed her. Thank you for helping us celebrate our engagement, thank you for coming to the handfasting, thank you for loving us as we went through the journey that was her cancer. Thank you for being there at the end.
Thank you, those who encouraged me as I joined E2. Thank you for honouring my part in this seven-year journey, thank you for supporting me in my dark hours and days. Thank you for the loving messages and kindnesses. Thank you too, for the generous gifts you have given to me, and to Tess. You know who you are, those of you who dug into your pockets to send gifts of incredible generosity.
Thank you for coming to the memorial yesterday. Thank you for bringing hearts, souls and the love catbox to my home. Thanks to those of you who could not come, but who were there in spirit, singing songs, banging drums, raising glasses.
Thank all of you, too numerous to mention. You were a part of our journey, in ways that neither you nor I can tell.
I will always miss Christine, but I will always have a little something of her here.
In due course, there will be video and audio of the service. Let me know if you are interested. Meantime, you may want to watch this video interview of Christine. Thank you, QXZ, Walter, jaubertmoniker and Mr. Hotel!