Time Remembered

"And time remembered is grief forgotten

And frost is slain and flowers begotten."

And, no, she wouldn't be joining us today at the first family reunion since she left our world.

Ours had been a Matriarchal family, first headed by the Grandmother who ruled with bonds of steel for years beyond her death, and then our Mother, who became the head of the clan despite five adult brothers.

Neither my sisters nor I ever questioned or judged it, but instinctively knew it was not what we wanted in our lives.  And probably that was the determining factor in our rather loose, albeit loving, relationship.

Thus, the women in the family would be together this day for the first time in 26 years.   Although we had seen each other separately, the females in the family had not assembled together since our Mother's death.

The occasion was a Great Granddaughter's wedding.  An absolutely lovely occasion which required all three of us to travel from distant locations.

And her three Granddaughters would also be reunited.  Mom had been an incredible presence in all six of our lives, and still we remember her differently.

As we gathered the evening before the ceremony, each of us wore a gift she had given us.

Mine was the diamond and sapphire bracelet Dad had given Mom before her marriage.  It had been passed on to me as the oldest daughter, and I, decades later, had given it to my daughter.  She, thoughtfully, had brought it with her so I could wear it to the ceremony.

My younger sister wore a gold pin originally owned by our Grandmother and presented to Ellen on her sixteenth birthday by our Mother's sister, Helen.

The original wedding ring given by our Grandfather, John King, to his bride, Ellen Quinn, was worn by her youngest granddaughter.  That, also, in the family tradition had been given as a rite of passage upon marriage.

Two of the three granddaughters wore the fragile golden wreaths presented to them the year they were sixteen.  As the oldest grandchild, my daughter, had been presented with the delicate gold hoops she now wore.

Trivia, perhaps, but also our way of remembering the happy moments.  There are other memories, sibling rivalries, mundane slights, nonsense, that caused the long years of separation, and all so unimportant.  Today was to be a day of rejoicing.

The place settings at our table indicated 7 guests.  As we raised our glasses for a toast, we looked at each other instinctively, and said, "But she's here too."

Then as we joined hands and hearts, we hoped she was smiling, and saying to all of us, "Well Done," but we also realized we had gone home just one last time.

"And time remembered is grief forgotten

And frost is slain and flowers begotten."