For Mom and Dad

And so, life's race faithfully run, you each passed the baton to us with one soft, final breath. Your lives were established in the steadfast, consistent use of time and energy. Faithful years of joyous love and labor where you shined as the constant sun warming our lives; your hands knit the sturdy fabric of our lives, clothing us against the cold; each of your well chosen words assured us we could walk forward. And those lives, trustworthy as a gathering dawn, constant as the phases of our mysterious moon, abiding as the passing seasons deftly layered one upon another, have built hearth-fires for the empty, arduous junctures in our own lives. We have been held safe and secure for having known you. We remain--the blood of your blood, strength of your strength, love of your love; filled daily with gratitude for your having sustained us as we grew, for supporting us during the journey, and for living the way of prayer and grace in your aging and departing. May we, the blood that remains, form durable vibrant threads in the tapestry of family, granting bountiful legacies of love as you and the eternal God entreat us. For Mom and Dad Free Verse in Tercets