MILDERWEATHER

Meditation on Passing

2009-05-18T09:51:00.000-07:00

There it was, my name on a headstone. I stared it down, but the shiny black granite stared right back.

My cousin came close, his lanky frame swaying over me like a young tree and we stood there in silence.

“When are you getting married?” he eventually asked. My reflection on mortality short-lived as I stumbled for an answer.

“Why do you ask?” His question catching me off-guard.

“I’m tied of funerals,” he murmured. “We could really use a wedding.”

It was true, our small family only ever congregated at unfortunate times, temporarily united in mourning before vanishing from each other’s lives, until the next tragedy.

As a family, we were fortunate—the suffering in our lives was inconsequential to other families where death seemed frequent and unexpected.

For our family, death was a game of patience and inevitability. Whether it was a survival instinct or callous selfishness, we possessed a genetic predisposition to removing the dying from our lives long before they were actually buried.

And there we stood under a pewter sky, the ground still spongy from rain the day before.

My cousin, eyes red from the tears he swallowed waited for an answer. I smiled back. “I don’t recall pressuring you to get married.” I said with a wink.

He smiled back.

At 20, I’d be horrified if he suddenly announced his intentions to wed. Horrified, if not somewhat envious that at 11-years his senior I had languished in my recent romantic pursuits.

I knew he wasn’t asking for a wedding, but he lacked the vocabulary to say he wanted a ritual—in the same way we honour our dead, he was asking us to honour the living.

We assuaged our hearts with empty promises to stay in touch, and commitments to visits we had no intention of honouring.

And then we hugged, warm and fragile, aware that like our predecessors we too shall pass.

Our Children: Hit the Ground Running (article)

2008-05-23T14:14:00.000-07:00

Hit the Ground Running
(click on the picture for a full-size image in a new window)

OptiMYz: Runners' High (article)

2008-05-01T15:39:00.000-07:00

Runners' High
(click on the picture for a full-size image in a new window)

Starting Line: From 315-Pound Loafer to Marathon Finisher (article)

2008-05-01T15:13:00.000-07:00

From 315-Pound Loafer to Marathon Finisher
(click on the picture for a full-size image in a new window)

Starting Line: Tri-ath-lon (article)

2008-05-01T14:55:00.000-07:00

Tri-ath-lon
(click on the picture for a full-size image in a new window)

Active Canadian: Cool Gear (review)

2008-05-01T14:35:00.000-07:00

Cool Gear
(click on the picture for a full-size image in a new window)

Blue Nose Marathon Web Content

2008-04-29T17:55:00.000-07:00

Articles in their original context can be found here:

http://www.bluenosemarathon.com/EN/training/gettingstarted/index.cfm

Inspired to Make a Change
(click on the picture for a full-size image in a new window)

The Key is Moderation
(click on the picture for a full-size image in a new window)

Making Smart Food Choices
(click on the picture for a full-size image in a new window)

Blue Nose Newsletter - Issue 5 -

2008-04-29T17:47:00.000-07:00

Introducing the Blue Nose Pasta Village
(click on the picture for a full-size image in a new window)

Ready, Set...Slow!
(click on the picture for a full-size image in a new window)

Blue Nose Newsletter - Issue 4 -

2008-04-29T17:32:00.000-07:00

Hamstrings vs. Heartstrings
(click on the picture for a full-size image in a new window)

Blue Nosers for Life
(click on the picture for a full-size image in a new window)

Cordon Blue Cooking
(click on the picture for a full-size image in a new window)

Blue Nose Newsletter - Issue 3 -

2008-04-29T16:39:00.000-07:00

Blue noses-and hands-needed!
(click on the picture for a full-size image in a new window)

Blister in the Run
(click on the picture for a full-size image in a new window)

Blue Nose Newsletter - Issue 2 -

2008-04-29T16:28:00.000-07:00

Leader of the Pack
(click on the picture for a full-size image in a new window)

Running to the Rhythm
(click on the picture for a full-size image in a new window)

Sweating It Out
(click on the picture for a full-size image in a new window)