Waiting for death

So I haven’t written for a little while. We are dealing with a family member who is dying. It is someone who has lived a long, fulfilling life and her time with us is drawing to a close. It is interesting, the irony of life. All around the farm the peaches are flowering. The apricots and nectarines have just finished. Another season and new life. The cat is pregnant and will be having kittens in a few weeks, new sheep are on the way, and new chickens too. Yet our beloved matriarch will soon be gone from us. She has tied the family together as one. From all our disparate points; be they geographical, political, or religious, she brought us together.

She has been an avid gardener her entire life, always sustaining herself and her family as much as she could. It is one of the things that has been keeping her going, “Next year we’ll plant this . . . ” or “We forgot to plant this . . . Well, there’s always next year to try again.” It is also a legacy that she has left for the family. Something she has taught us all about, even those like me who joined the family via marriage. We are all the same to her – family. Her determination, patience, and humility made her an incredible gardener and teacher. Even a year ago, as her health was failing again, this 97 year old woman was in the garden stooping, weeding, harvesting, and admiring. She still had this ability, without knowing it I believe, to make anyone else feel lazy. She would never do so intentionally – she is one of the kindest people I’ve ever met, but it was her work ethic and determination that did it. In reality, she made it all seem so simple. It, you ask. It can be gardening, but for her it encompasses so much more, it is life.