Total Eclipse of the Heart

I teach a class on the Simpsons, and the theme is "God has a Sense of Humor." I truly believe she does. I know the only way I make it through this life is to laugh a lot. 

I lost my mom on April 8, 2023. That was Holy Saturday. It's been about a year - and what a year it has been. I feel like she is upstairs pulling strings for me from Heaven. I quit drinking alcohol. I fell in love with a man who unconditionally loves me, and I also got involved in some incredible projects including the Oregon District Seed of Life Mosaic and Memorial Event. I also am writing a very important play with a friend. God is really, clearly at work in my life, for which I am grateful. I know mom has something to do with that. She definitely helped form my faith. It is actually the biggest gift she and my father left me. 

But God has a sense of humor. So I had to survive Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday remembering that she passed last year. This event did not go unnoticed. My mom, who was the most devoted Catholic you ever met, passed on the holiest evening of the year. It is when the Easter Vigil begins in the Church, to celebrate the resurrection of Christ. 

I am having to grieve this anniversary doubly hard this year though because my mom's actual anniversary of her death is April 8th, which also happens to be the eclipse. This is a big deal where I live, as we are in the path of totality. My children do not have school. My university is cancelling classes for all of us to watch it. And again, I cannot let this event go unnoticed. It is also the day that my mom passed into the heavens last year. 

Grieving does come in waves. We cannot really control when they crash, and this year they are crashing with Easter and the Eclipse. 

Both of these events are showing me that there is more to this life than just the here and now. I have no clue what the afterlife is actually like, but if my parents are indicating anything to me, it is magical and supernatural and beautiful - as the natural cycles of life are on this planet.  And the beauty of this eclipse - supernatural and breathtaking. Truly sublime.