Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Names, new and old

Yesterday was strange. We had had little sleep because of the call in the small hours that heralded the birth of Liliya Marie Devine...the newest name in my life. We woke feeling groggy so decided to walk to work to catch some fresh air.

As we turned to cross the road, a van zoomed past us, missing us by a fraction. The power of its slipstream almost sucked us into the road. We froze and remained rooted and unable to move for a second; it was a close shave.

The rest of the walk was filled with conversation around new life in the form of Liliya and old life  in the form of Bev & Ken who were lucky to be still alive.

For me, the day was full of reflection on how delicate a balance life and death is.  I found myself listing and thinking of everyone in my life who is now dead. It was more pleasant than morbid...so many nice memories. I wish they were still around to share some space with me: Perhaps that's exactly what they did do today.

Off the top of my head...

Paul Janota
Ken Bush
Carol Smith
Ted Asher
Malcolm Cleroux
Albert Green
Ted Alderman
Milford Smith
Stan Turpin
Dennis Summers
Daisy Summers
Doris Kennedy
Tom Davies
Eric Connor
Mary Brailsford
Derek Cuthbert
Jack Kennedy
George Winfield
Stevie Southam
Elisabeth Norman
Jean Flinn
Jarred Potter
Jane Girling
Ken Poole
Joyce Anderson
Henry Mulligan
Gwen Mulligan
Lynn Williams
Fred Baillie
Mavis Baillie
Gordon Sherlock
Shirley Mays
Mr Herbert
My Mum
My Dad
Bev's Dad

It was a strange day thinking about birth and death, but a very pleasant day all the same. It was nice thinking about every one of them.


5 comments:

  1. It is a fine line between life and death, and one nanosecond can change all. I'm glad you survived to tell the tale.

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  2. Thanks Valerie
    Nanosecond...I like that, and it's so true; just one step out of line and ZAP!!

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  3. Ah, the circle of life. I love the name Liliya.

    Thanks for asking about my great-great grandmother. I added a link to a previous post, which you can find here:

    http://willowmanor.blogspot.com/2010/02/sepia-saturday-we-are-who-we-were.html

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  4. That was an interesting read. She must have witnessed Jackson County in a period of time that I would have loved to have witnessed (in safety)...speaking from a Mormon perspective. Regarding DNA willow;have you had your native american roots confirmed?

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  5. Glad you and Bev were okay in that scary moment. It is something to reflect about that fine line. Liliya is a beautiful name :)

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