And here, for your exclusive viewing pleasure, I proudly present my 2nd, and oldest niece: Lisa, 3 years old.....
What intellect this family hides in its rows.....
Funeral
The family: My parents, my big brother and I, drove of to the south of Jutland, last wednesday afternoon. To the outskirts of the lovely rural village of Barsmark. A tiny spot somewhere on the outskirts of another tiny spot, a few kilometers from the pretty small town of Aabenrå.
Out there in the country, lies "Elsestræer", the farm where my father was born, and where my grandmother lived for over 70 years, ending saturday last week. I have many fond memories of visits to that same farm, of visitng my grandparents, my grandfather; Patriarch farmer, businessman. A kind man who was all a grandfather should be. And after he passed away and left only my grandmother, she was always there, on that farm, with those memories. The head of that half of my family. Reason enough for the visits we payed to that part of the country, that is after all part of my heritage.
I guess I loved her, as a grandmother. Loved the fact that my fathers family had roots right there in that little village, dating back more than 500 years. Just like I love my mothers family, the fact that being eastern eurtopean jews, their roots are spread throughout the world. Disjointed in a way, yet somehow as strong in the connection.
But those roots in that village meant, and still mean a lot. The feeling that I know where I am from (or at least where half of me is from), is comforting. So I guess I loved her, and even though she was almost 94 when she died, and even though she closed her eyes quitly, in that same bedroom of the same farm where she had lived for 70 years, and even though in life that was all she asked for, to be able to live in that place untilm the end, even with all these things telling me to celebrate the life she lived, instead of mourning the death she had. Even for all that, it makes me sad to know she has left us.
It was a beautiful funeral. Service held in one of Denmarks oldest village churches, dating from far beyond the days of the reformation, it was a lovely place to say goodbye.
There are so many things I could write, or at least wish I would write, that would help me remember a beautiful day in honour of a grandmother who deserves all that beauty, but I won't.....
For no other reason than that I'm tired, uninspired and not in the mood. So maybe some other day, the thoughts will touch paper as poetry or ramblings, or in some other form, but for now, a busy, slightly sressed out life must go on..... So until I'm back, enjoy yourselves....