A Walk In The Snow
Most people really like it here. When it comes their time to move on to another plane of existence, sometimes, for some, it’s just really hard to go. I watched both my grandmother and my mom stay long past their time and suffer so. With both, I tried to help them move on when the going got so rough.
And, at last, when they finally did depart, I was not saddened, but relieved. Sometimes I think it’s even us that holds them here – so sad to let them go.
Julia, my wife’s mom, followed suit. I often thought that she wanted to go, but just didn’t know how. But again, she too lived long past her time.
I know, perhaps you’re asking, “Who designates ‘her time?’” I agree; it is somewhat nebulous. Who’s to say? But there comes a point when we ask, “What is the point?” If one suffers so miserably, why not just leave the body behind and move on?
So finally Julia’s mother, Gerry, moved on. We got the news past midnight and went to bed numb and knowing that she was, is and always will be in God’s hands. We woke up the next morning to a huge, but gorgeous snow storm that brought us close to three feet.
We crawled through the day feeling all the things that most people feel on these saddest of days. About 4:00 in the afternoon, when the snow had lessened, but still softly fell, we thought it might be a good idea to get out and take a walk in the forest that is just a block and a half from our home.
We bundled up and stepped out into a white world – white ground, white air and white sky. It was pure and enchanted. The snow hung on the trees caked impossibly on the branches. There was no wind, no sound, no people. Our breath simply added to the whiteness that surrounded us.
There was a path, drifted, but traversable. The quiet, the light, and the gently falling snow was absolutely magical.
We walked in silence, alone in our thoughts.
As we came up the path on a gentle rise, we came upon a grove of young saplings. Though it was the dead of winter, it seemed as if no one had told these youngsters to drop their leaves, so they still carried them on their branches. The leaves had turned, not red or brown, but golden. So there we were in an alabaster and golden forest. It was breathtaking.
We walked. Occasionally we talked – mostly about Gerry. At times we felt her with us. At other times Julia was alone – like never before in her life.
When we got home, the daylight too had passed away. I retired into my thoughts and memories of this perfect experience and wrote the lyrics to this song.
A Walk In The Snow
Music and Lyrics by Peter Link
Snow …
We took a walk in the snow
And thought about mom
Like the golden winter leaves on saplings
Frozen
Frozen in time in an alabaster forest
She hung on past her time
Ah yes, long past her time
To let go and flutter away
And we walked in the snow
She hung on, we thought,
Because the tender thread
Between mother and child
Made the parting so hard to face
And in the severance of souls
Her heart could not stand
The thought of that last embrace
But she’s gone
Off on her journey
To who knows where
Leaving us here in mid air
Leaving us here in mid air
Leaving us hanging out here in mid air
Yet still with us
On a walk in the snow
On a walk in the snow
Snow …
We took a walk in the snow
And talked about mom
As the ashen sky above hung heavy
Struggling
Struggling to find some kind of meaning
We simply watched the snow
Falling down from the sky
And let go
And sent her on her way
But we held to the thought
That she lives in us still
Beyond memory, but here
In each step, in each breath, each tear
We knew the life that is hers
Is the same life as ours
And cannot just disappear
So she’s gone
Off on her journey
To who knows where
Soaring and laughing out there
Soaring and laughing somewhere
Soaring and laughing somewhere out there
Yet still with us
On a walk in the snow
On a walk in the snow
And oh how the snow
In its soothing adagio
Rolls gently over my soul
Yes oh how the snow
In its soothing adagio
Rolls gently over my soul
We took a walk in the snow
A walk in the snow
And thought about mom
Mom