On March 22,
2015 ~ 3 Baha, 172 B.E., my sweet older sister, Colette, ascended to the
spiritual world. When she was born, her qualities of glorious self awareness,
wisdom and passion for life were transported home from
the hospital on her older sister’s lap. From her beginnings, Colette was bathed
in love and developed a strong sense of loyalty to those around her. Her
youthful years were spent as a rambunctious and carefree spirit with mature clarity for her responsibilities as an older sister to her five younger
siblings and a devotee to her older sister. She met her soul mate in high school and spent her married
life as a loving wife, mother, grandmother, sister and friend.
One of my favourite
memories of her athletic playful character took place when our family lived in
Thompson, Manitoba. She was ten years old; I was five. The great outdoors was
our playground even in minus thirty-degree weather. We enjoyed a raucous game
we called Cowboys and Indians. The partially built houses behind ours became
the adventure landscape for our escapades. Colette was always the sheriff and
we two younger girl siblings were her deputies, while our brother played
the villain. We ran around hard and with purpose until called in for a meal by
our mother.
I joined her in
song one day when she announced that her boyfriend had proposed marriage. Going
To The Chapel became her theme song for as long as it took her fiancé to
achieve his university degree. Afterward, she married the love of her life and
lived peacefully in a small apartment filled with daytime sunbeams and the
fragrance of familiar love.
Colette’s
adventurous spirit was a true wonder. She was tomboyish in the meadows, on
hiking trails, alongside fast flowing streams and fishing with her outdoorsman husband.
At home, she was domestic and gentle with her first baby and again with her
second. Her playful manner provided her boys and her grandchildren the pleasure
of life to its fullest. She devoted her attention and purpose to those around
her and rarely complained of the pains developing within her aging body.
Sixty-three years. Not a long time but a great time for her to have explored the abstract wonders
of love, enjoy quiet serenity while sitting on a bench lakeside, full participation in galloping around
with her children and grandchildren, holding hands with her husband, chatting
for hours with her oldest sister and sharing her empathy with
everyone she met. Her beauty and service are welcome in the life
ever after.
O My God! O Thou
forgiver of sins! Bestower of gifts! Dispeller of afflictions!
Verily, I
beseech Thee to forgive the sins of such as have abandoned the physical garment
and have ascended to the spiritual world.
O my Lord!
Purify them from trespasses, dispel their sorrows, and change their darkness
into light. Cause them to enter the garden of happiness, cleanse them with the
most pure water, and grant them to behold Thy splendors on the loftiest mount.
