The cycle of Life

The other day, I think on Facebook, I saw a carton in which a child was being pushed along the street in his pram and an old man was walking in the other direction pushing his wheeled walker. And it is true that people drop off the edge and others join the race.

We have seen the cycle this week. A 100 year old lady, a close friend for many years died. I believe in heaven/hell and Jesus and I must confess I’m not weeping. For several years she hasn’t recognized anyone, not even her family and been a grumpy old thing. That was so unlike her and at her funeral we’re going to forget the last couple of years and celebrate the vibrant, loving lady who when we transferred several thousand kilometers to this area over forty years ago, was like a grandmother to our kids and a wise backup to us. I was overseas when my dad died and unable to attend his funeral, but I recall, although sad as we were to lose her, my mum’s funeral was a celebration of life lived so lovingly. So I can’t be too sad over this lady’s passing but am so thankful for the last something like 45 years that we have had the blessing of knowing her.

At 80+ I’m glad that we don’t have a new born child in our house to see the other side of the circle. But we have a great-granddaughter who will be 2 in a few days and this week we celebrate birthdays for four grandchildren, a son and a daughter in law. January seems to be the month to join the ‘cycle’ in our family!

But yesterday we did have a birth on our farm. Yesterday morning we had twelve sheep; yesterday afternoon we had thirteen! Not the same as a human addition, but we’re very happy about it. When I looked at the small flock this morning I was suspicious that there will soon be a few more playmates frolicking about the paddock. And we don’t get up at night on a feeding roster!

Dominic Cartier