Losing Colette

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.

Prayer For The Departed

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. 

– Abdu’l-Baha