Thursday, February 24, 2011

In memory of Janet Reimer
















After praying one day in her little house, in her 89th Year,
she bent her head, weeping gently. 
Her son and I looked at each other with wonder.

“I didn’t know it would be so sweet,” Janet said.
The prayer had delighted her,
as all lovely things surprised and delighted her.

She wore a bra outside her shirt for my birthday party
just to get the big giggle going--
pulling us inexorably into as much joy as we could manage.

She would shine laughter into any room of gloomy hearts.
We hovered around her--
a fragrant garden we couldn’t resist. 

Working all day and the nighttime too 
she readied her house for guests.
There would be coffee and fruit
on a table set with flowers and bits of blue. 
There would be laughter.
There would always be delightful, surprising sweetness.



3 comments:

  1. Aye, Eliot is a sad, sad place without her.
    Her little gray house sits forlorn on the hill,
    the driveway unplowed all the Winter.

    The sunsets along the River Road are less brilliant,
    as she's not there to wonder.

    There's nowhere to stop in now for a bit of sweet,
    Or tea or supper. And to share some news and a joke or two.

    But I know that she is with us, still guiding us, comforting us.
    She's happy in that Place, still serving,
    ever growing nearer, my God to Thee.

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  2. I'be been sooo blessed to be acquainted with the Reimers. Marguerite Reimer Sears andher father, Charlie Reimer. Charlie and his wife, when they moved to Florida, lived in my mother's community. He was a real character! He gave no quarter! "When you know and you know that you Know, then you KNOW!' Janet and Manny were amazing! I had to read minutes of LSA meetings when I worked for the secretariat as part of LSA development. My favorite ones were of the Eilot community. They started every meeting by deepening on "God Loves Laughter!" Happy Happy!

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  3. FYI: Terry Reimer is one of my most loved persons, we shared such good times in Khaborovsk Siberia, when she and her family weer living there! And in case you are wondering who is Beijene, I am Jene Bellows - (Bei Jing Yu my Chinese name, means, "Precious Peaceful Universe")

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