‘Teamwork is the key to happiness’. At least that’s what my seven year old son told me earlier and it certainly struck a chord.
You see, when I woke this morning, I felt a little lighter. Last night, before going to bed, I’d been reading all the kind messages that are being left in loving memory of Ann and in heartfelt support for her family. It’s hard not to feel the connection of loving energy between all of us whose lives have been touched by Ann, whether that was in person or through her healing words. If I just close my eyes now, I feel that connection as well as a gentle whisper of Ann’s company, all revealed together as a warmth in my heart and as tingles down my spine. I pray thanks that Ann’s family have the gift of such love at their time of grieving and if teamwork is caring and being there then yes, I can see that it’s advantages.
Caring is only natural
No matter how detached we’ve become from the old, tribal way of living, something in us instinctively knows the importance of our presence when one of our brothers and sisters are grieving. An innate response overrides our modern reserved ways and we step forward with kindness, empathy and open arms. Those of us who know grief on a first name basis also know the intensity of that collective compassion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CM1gtTkxOug
The book I want to tell you about this time is a sensitive celebration of the kind of empathetic connections I was just referring to. 60 Postcards is about the creative way the author, Rachel Chadwick, decided to deal with the grief of losing her mother and about the kindness she received when she reached out. Using the Eurostar tickets her mother had bought her before she passed away, Rachel took a trip to to Paris and while she was there she scattered 60 handwritten postcards in her memory – one for every year of her mother’s life. She left her email address on the postcards and the complete strangers who found them in bookshops, cafes and theatres, cared enough to get in touch! It’s heartwarming to read how much the kind responses helped her and about the positive direction those postcards took her in life.
In an interview with the guardian Rachel Chadwick describes how the messages that arrived over Christmas were a huge thing for her “because the first Christmas without Mum was very tough. To check my phone and have an email from someone in Luxembourg who had found my postcard in Paris was unbelievable.” Since writing the book, friends, family and children who were taught by her mother are coming forward to share memories of her mother “I’m hearing stories I haven’t heard before so it’s like I’m getting to know her even though she’s gone – as if I’m getting new memories.”
That’s teamwork
Going back to what my wise little boy said, it seems he’s not the only kid who sees the value in ‘teamwork’. This video is adorable and motivating at the same time … and it made me giggle a lot.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzF23qI3Djw
Thank you for being there for the Cygnus family. With the kind of ‘teamwork’ I’m seeing from you, Cygnus will keep flying and together we’ll keep growing!
One love,
Louisa
