Happy Mother's Day - Olga Vera Stinich

Olga Vera Stinich passed away March 14, 2005. No mother could ever have been more loved. Her life was one of laughter, love and a deep faith in God; but also one of tears, fear, sadness and frustration. It was not free from stress or anxiety, nor of  disappointment, but it had certainly been a life well-lived. It had been all these things that made her who she was.

From this remarkable woman I learned kindness, gentleness, patience; I also learned of prayer and of God and faith, perseverance, hope and, ultimately, Truth. While the lessons were learned--through her living them--I know that, through my own weakness, I have failed miserably to put them into practice at moments in my own life. But I still try.

My mother remains the woman I most admire and respect, and to whom I most look up to. She is never far from thought, and I speak to her often, asking for her prayers and help. I think, if anyone were to describe me, in time to come, the words I would hold most dear would be "She is like her mother"; for it is to this, I aspire.

Poems for My Mother

Forever Remembered

 

I don't remember

Doing anything special

To deserve the love

Of my mother;

Yet it is always there,

Constant as she is

In showing she cares.

A day is not enough

To honor her,

Yet a simple card,

A mere token of

My love and gratitude

For the happiness

She has given

To so many over the years

Brings tears

To her bright blue eyes.

Dear lady!

“Stay with me”, my cry.

How do I return

The love you have given?

How do I ever hope

To become half the woman

You are?

Perhaps by sharing

The love and beauty and wisdom

The gentleness

Of your heart, passing it on.

It is only a start,

But in emulating you I know

You will always be with me.

 Bright Eyes
(For My Mother)

Bright Eyes lives with style and grace
And a loving smile upon her face
With sadness veiled she grieves inside
One never knows that she has cried

Her heart has broken many times
Yet she remains the most sublime
Desiring only another’s delight
She remains a loving acolyte

In times of trouble, pain or need
Her help is wholly guaranteed
One need never fear to ask
For she’s up to any task

Bright Eyes’ love is evergreen
Will never exist unseen
Her purpose here is simple and clear:
To her God bring others near 

Magic in My Mother’s Hands

There is magic in my mother’s hands

From whence flows her love

A mighty river whose course runs true

And one drop of that sacred water

Poured on painful wounds

Cleanses and leads me to my healing

        Namaste

   (Letter to My Mother)

It hurts, this missing you.

I had seen the sand slipping through

Your hourglass, but could do nothing

To slow--or stop it.

Then, how could I deny you the peace

Which you now surely possess?

Do you know that it is spring,

That the sun now burns

Hot in the April sky?  I remember you

Could hardly wait for the season to change.

Soon daisies will dance, bowing in the warm breeze,

Awaiting their blessing from a cool morning's dew,

And dandelions will scatter their wispy

Transparent seedlings throughout the earth

Like stars breaking free from a constellation,

Tumbling down for our pure pleasure.

Lovely, how you always saw beauty--

Even in a weed, or the God-likeness in everyone.

How I long to share this beauty with you again,

And even that which is not so beautiful,

For it takes one to appreciate the other.

But until such time, I will remain content

To simply welcome your memory in the spirit

Of Namaste, for in no other has the light of God

Shone so brightly.

**************************

*Namaste (nah mah stae) is a Sanskrit word commonly used as a greeting in India

and in the practice of yoga.  It can be translated in many ways.  Literally,

it means, "Not me, you."

Briefly, it means, "The Divine in me honors the Divine in you."

The deeper meaning is often translated as:

"I honor the place in you in which the entire Universe dwells - a place

of peace and light and love.  When you are in that place in you, and I am in that place in me, we are One."

Happy Mother's Day to all mothers.

Peace,

Monica