[Oe List ...] Celebrating completed lives of loved ones, and anticipating our own

[Marilyn R Crocker]

Dear Colleagues, 

-- and especially those who populated the NYRH from 1972 - 1975, both in
our Paterson, NJ "brief exile," and our Claremont Ave/Riverside Drive
"return."

This week we learned of the loss of two cherished former members of the
Upper West Side "tribe," Ginny Natali (whom we knew then as Ginny Terry)
and Ron Griffith;  and we have, or soon will celebrate, in person or in
Diaspora, their completed lives.

Joe and I loved being invited by Sue Laxdall last week to share some
stories with her about our experiences with Ron .  

And since the posting by David Dunn about Ginny Natali's passing, Joe and
I engaged together in a similar process of recalling vignettes.  I
especially remembered Ginny's passion for introducing imaginal education
to the UCC church (Ginny's husband at that time was clergy in that
tradition) and Joyce Ollison and I, among others in the House, were
invited to present a course to a major gathering of that denomination in
downtown Manhattan.  As Ginny's brother suggested in his reflections, she
was not a soul to whom one easily said "no", and so we danced over 20,000
fathoms of jello, as it were, to invent this specially tailored course. 
Joe remembered Ginny as one who lived in the north-of-the-city 'burbs',
but who somehow managed to be a regular presence at 49 Claremont,
assuming whatever assignment was needed as an energetic and passionate
supporter.  Her parents, Paul and Gerry Evans, were frequent and most
welcome sojourners, as well, although we don't believe we ever had the
opportunity to meet Ginny's "Little Brother, Dave".

These two losses -- of folks we hadn't spent much time with recently, but
somehow had counted on "being around" indefinitely -- struck us even more
powerfully this week when Joe experienced a TIA (also understood as a
mini-stroke), only recognizable by his loss of vision temporarily in one
eye.  If it had been both fields of vision, we are told by our family doc
as well as our doctor son, Ben, it would likely have been another of the
migraines he experienced often back in the 1980s (and which seem to be in
the genes of all the Crocker men, Jon and Ben included.)  However, it
seems 80-somethings don't typically get migraines -- Joe wonders, perhaps
they are not stressed enough anymore?

Needless to say, this event "stopped our world," and it has many
ramifications for our future .So as we stand present, with deep
appreciation, to the expenditure and gifts of Ron and Ginny this week, we
are ever mindful of the brevity and preciousness of life; the utter
contingency of human existence; the radical gift of each and every day we
are given to live life fully; and the blessing of having bonded with such
a grand community of saints, the likes of all of you.

Grace, peace and love,

Marilyn and Joe



Marilyn R. Crocker, Ed.D
Crocker & Associates, Inc.
123 Sanborn Road
West Newfield, ME 04095
(207) 793-3711
____________________________________________________________
Digital Photography - Click Now.
http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/fc/BLSrjpTDvmQGpNiZKekzYBNy2pbPo1I4pBWxWWeBUysRMN198FIPtAedf00/
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://wedgeblade.net/pipermail/oe_wedgeblade.net/attachments/20090313/b4468191/attachment.html>