A reflection from Greg Solik

Today marks the 3rd anniversary of the passing of our parents. Although the days are full with the richness of my own family life, and I feel that a new season has arrived, there is still a quiet river of sadness than runs through me. Especially at night, when the outside world settles, my dreams become full of the sounds of this river. It is the river that took their last breaths, that felt their final heartbeats, that muted their screams for help. That river, a place not far from the Kaamberg valley, now lives memorialized in me. Before the turn of this new season, all of this was reflected not only in my dreams, but also my body, which became soft. In my spirit, which could not sing. Today, the new season brings more energy and thus possibilities, and more strength. But the river remains in my heart. To put a tie on, is to be at the river, to submerge myself in water is to be at the river, to receive a telephone call out of the blue, is to be taken to the river, like I was, on 17 February 2017. The river that took my parents is the same the river that runs through me, and my life. I accept this painful reality. But in doing so, I have experienced a great mystery. That the love that has been shown to me and my family can renew and sustain. And that whatever facts we are dealt in this life, the story is always ours for the telling. Thank you for remembering and re-remembering their story. And making new ones with me.

Greg Solik