May You Fall Madly In Love
Alma and Wilfrid
Here we are .. January 10th. Were my French grandmother alive today, a great many of us would be gathering to celebrate her 115th birthday. Her name was Alma Gauthier Bilodeau. Now there's a beautiful name .. Alma .. which means 'gentle, loving, bounteous one' in Latin, 'soul' in Spanish, 'world' in Aramaic, 'apple' in Hungarian, and 'woman with beautiful lips' in Arabic. And so please know that on this day dear Alma, I raise my glass to you for giving birth to 8 babies, raising 7 children, grieving the death of 2 before your own last breath, being patient with grandchildren and living long enough, a good and robust 90 years, to hold a few great grandchildren in your arms including my own dear son Dylan when he was only a few weeks old. While I didn't know you well, I remember you fondly and your always busy hard at work hands.
And since this is my first post of the year (and I pray I will post more faithfully this year .. I write plenty but so little makes it to the public stage despite my dreams that it be otherwise) I had the greatest surprise when on New Year's Day, one of my posts went viral with over 1,500 shares at this time of writing. Holy .. that's a first!! And perhaps too the sign that I needed to not only keep writing but to go the extra length in offering some of it to the world.
And so, no matter what day of the year it is today, may the following be true for you dear reader ..
May you fall madly in love this year .. in love with someone who unhinges your tired trajectory, in love with a spouse of several years who might be aching for lightning, in love with demanding children and crazy relatives .. in love with the particular pedigree of genius insanity that has perhaps claimed you in spite of your reluctance .. and certainly in love with an animal, a cloud, a redwood, the wild .. these at least once a day. May you fall in love with this fragile jewel of a world, with hard work, real learning, just causes, petitioning and prayers. May you fall in love with wonder itself, with the grand mystery, with all that feeds you in order that you may live .. and with the responsibility that that confers. May you fall in love with heartbreak and seeing how it's stitched into everything. May you fall in love with the natural order of things and with tears, tenderness and humility. May this be a magnificent year for you. May you fall deeply, madly, hopelessly, inextinguishably in love.
You can visit the original post on my Poetess page where I will be featuring more of my writing as well as moving pieces by other poets. (I also have poetry featured on my website.) Deep bow to UK illustrator Jackie Morris for her beautiful and awe inspiring artwork.