Gratitude Practice 2021 Day #4: Sydne Parker
My aunt Syd passed away last week and today her people gathered to celebrate her life and her love and her impact. Funerals are strange and wonderful rituals. Do we ever really know or understand the impact we have on another person? Why do we wait until the very end to say all of the big important words? Lots of happy memories and just as many melancholy moments.
While Sydne Parker was not a large woman her impact in the world was...big. She loved her people fiercely and I feel grateful to have been one of them. Each of her children shared tender feelings today about their sweet Mom and I was inspired by the common themes that continued to bubbled up to the surface…creativity in multiple forms, let kindness prevail in all situations, service was always her secret sauce and once loved by Syd Parker...always loved by Syd Parker. She built a loving home and life and in so doing supported, nourished, and taught both directly and indirectly to all who entered. She was soft and sensitive while demonstrating strength and steadiness and this combination seemed to make all of the difference. Her endless support for and constant companionship to my uncle, Scott Parker, has always impressed and inspired me. Their love story is one for the ages. Last week, they celebrated 66 years of marriage...that's 66 years of Scott and Syd Parker working together hand in hand, side by side, project after project, calling after calling, event after event doing good and loving big. Sixty-six years! I feel grateful to have been scooped up in their love and care more times than I deserve and feel deep gratitude for her friendship, example and love.
In a few days, all of the lovely flowers that flanked her casket will fade. Family and friends are already headed back to the airport to resume normal life. And those closest to her will soon start breathing, and thinking and sleeping in a more regular pattern but things never really go back to how they were before. At the end of the luncheon today, as everyone was exchanging hugs and saying their goodbyes, I found myself scanning the room looking for Aunt Syd somewhere in the crowd...wanting to give her a squeeze and a kiss on the cheek and wish her a happy holidays...and then I remembered...and I brushed away a tender tear of gratitude and love. Once again I am reminded that loving people includes change and growth and adaptation and on days like today I am reminded how grateful I am to love and be loved by so many of the great ones.
