Poem for Mary Lou

We lost Julie’s Mom to cancer last week. Another long and ongoing battle that ended in ‘22. She was 81 and an avid outdoors person. She could identify/name almost any plant or animal or tree growing in Missouri and tell you if it belonged there or not. Her back stoop overlooked the Cuivre River and was always a favorite place for coffee and conversation. And birds. She was a lifetime St Louis Cardinals fan and in fact was buried in a Musial jersey and with her Cardinals blanket. My son and I had a group text with her and we watched almost every game together in different towns the last two seasons.
I didn’t post this to write her obit, but to post a poem from a poet she’d been reading recently, Wendell Berry. It was read aloud at her funeral. I thought it was pretty spot on and thought y’all might like it.
BKB

The Peace of WildThings

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

~Wendell Berry

Very nice and fitting poem, and sorry for your and Julie’s loss. We just lost a friend (on the 18th) to cancer … also a long battle. She was hoping to make it to Thanksgiving when the family was all together. Instead of celebrating the holiday, they were all here for the funeral.

Our condolences to you and the family.

Barry, I’m sorry for your loss. I pray she is now resting in the grace of heaven and is free.


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Cool words Posthole. Thoughts and prayers for Julie, you, and the rest of your family.

Barry I'm sorry for your and Julie's loss. Mary Lou sounded like a great person and those cardinal game memories are so wonderful to have.

Sorry for your loss, Barry. The poem is beautiful and reminds me of the many times I have walked the shoreline listening to the waves, wind and birds when I have felt low. A tonic for the soul.

There's nothing like the wild solitude to humble my pride and remind me how insignificant I am in the big scheme of things. I'm thankful for God's grace that allows me to be a part of it to simply observe and enjoy with the hope of something greater in my future.



1 Cor 2:9 “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart has imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him.”

Sorry for your family’s loss. Sounds like you have great memories.


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She sounds like a grand lady. Some are like that, when they go the world is never the same for those who knew them well.