Woodspriestess: Grandmother Prayer

Today we texted her this picture, because that is instant–no waiting for mail.

Prayer for my grandmother
sweet wind carry it
hope guard it
love keep it
peace bless it

carry my gratitude
straight to her heart
fold it into her hands
nestle it in her body
where it will take root
and blossom

may she know she is loved
she is appreciated
she is held

in the great grand web of incarnation
the unfurling of genetic memory
in shared silence and story
in unfolding legacy

Peace hold her
love enfold her
life release her…

(4/15/13)

When I found out last month that my grandmother was sick, I immediately knew I needed to write her a letter. It was hard to figure out what to say and how to start and so I waited. Finally, Sunday night after getting a not-promising text update from my mom, I got a card and wrote in it instead—I think my problem had been in part related to trying to type it out. Handwriting worked. There were no pearls of wisdom or genius, but there were words from the heart and in my own sloppy-writing hand (it has always bugged her that I don’t have better handwriting!). I got the kids all to sign it in the morning and trudged it out to the mailbox and started fretting that it won’t make it to her in time. I went to the woods and spoke aloud. As I spoke, I became aware that I was wearing a sweater she knit for me and felt that in this way we were each wrapped in a prayer of love and thanksgiving.

The mayapples are unfolding their little umbrellas in the forest and today I spied some still-green-edged dogwood blossoms getting ready to put on a show.