#21 A Birthday Song of Love and Longing
My child’s birthday is always Happy Birthday
Not all Birthday songs are songs of love alone.
Some Birthday songs are of love, grief & longing.
Read on if you wish to know how the birthday song of an ephemeral yet eternal life feels like.
11322 dusks ago on 24th June 1992 …
A Brahmakamal1 bloomed,
A profound poetry unfolded,
A soulful symphony began,
A precious life came to be.
Blossoming slow and shy,
serene, wise and radiant.
Quiet in his presence,
Yet deep and abundant.
A heart-full of kindness
Eyes filled with wonder,
Wit, generosity, courage,
He wore a quiet splendour.
Awake, oriented, quiet,
And eyes smiling shy.
Just a tender yawn,
He gave no baby cry.
In an ephemeral life
cut short by destiny,
Sharing away all of him
He became eternity.
It is his Birthday today,
It is his emergence time.
Join me in celebrating him
With Happy Birthday Chime.
Happy Birthday my wondrous child
Happy Birthday my Evening Star
Happy Birthday my dearest Utkarsh
Happy Birthday my soul Anchor
3195 dusks since your transcendence …
Nothing is more hauntingly painful
than the absence of your presence.
Yet nothing is more alive and true
than your loving eternal ‘Presence’.
Your community libraries.
Your myriad sewa2 endeavour..
Your brief life of meaning.
Your legacy in all splendour.
All light, love and meaning.
Your ‘Presence’ lives on.
So here, so everywhere.
Not for a moment gone.
Happy Birthday my precious child.
Happy Birthday Utkarsh.
Dear Friends
Hope my verse of love and longing evokes remembrance of your loved one.
If you liked it, I invite you and nudge you to let your heart too sing the song of celebration of your loved one’s life, and resurrect their ‘Presence’ with meaning and love.
I have given voice to my grief as a bereaved mother in my book A Mother’s Cry .. A Mother’s Celebration
And I have shared in my book Grief ~ Growth ~ Grace – A Sacred Pilgrimage the grief expertise and wisdom that has emerged from my long practice as a ‘Grief & Growth’ Specialist, and ‘Resilience, Purpose & Transitions Coach’; from what I have learnt from my mentor and other experts; and all the grievers who allow me to companion them in their grief journey. I have also shared tiny glimpses of my own lived grief journey. It is both a professional reference book as well as a self-help companion.
Hope you read and like my books and/or gift to someone on a grief journey, or grief practitioners. Please leave your review on Amazon & Goodreads.
Feel free to reach me at growwithneena@gmail.com if you need counselling, therapy, coaching, expert companioning support, training, mentoring in the ‘Grief & Growth’ or ‘Resilience, Life-Purpose, Transitions & Ageing’ realm.
Stay tuned to continue learning more about the complex phenomenon of grief, my six-phase GROWTH Mandala model, and to develop Grief-Wisdom.
Those waiting for it - Grief Journaling post follows soon. Stay tuned.
Keep singing song of life. And remember to hope, love & smile.
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with others, especially with those on a grief journey &/or grief practitioners. And if this essay came as a forward to you, and you like it, please like, comment, share and
The Brahma Kamal plant, also known as Saussurea Obvallata, is a member of the sunflower family. It is believed that Lord Brahma, the Hindu god of creation, sat on Brahma Kamal flower while meditating. The spiritually significant Brahma Kamal flower blooms only once a year and for one night only.
Hindi word for self-less service, associated with Karma Yoga
Beautifully written! each word is like a balm.
Hi Neena, a young friend sent me the link to your newsletters after seeing how distraught I was at the sudden passing of my very beloved elder son 4 months short of his 38th birthday. I am reading and re-reading some of your newsletters. Is number 22 your last newsletter for now? I hope you are continuing to write. A big thank you to you for coming into my life when I most needed you.