Two pieces of news today:
- At 5:30 this morning, I received the news that my niece, Anastasia Louise, died yesterday. She was 6 1/2 weeks old. Anastasia joins two sisters in the great company of saints: Gabrielle Michelle, December 2002 (1 day old) and Catherine Michelle, November 2003 (10 months old). Anastasia's big sister, Elizabeth (who will be a 1st grader in the fall) and her two loving parents, John and Karen, have been through more than enough. There are no words.
- Justice Sandra Day O'Connor announced her retirement today, July 1, 2005 (Supreme Court Justice O'Connor retiring - The Changing Court - MSNBC.com).
I suspect these two events will be forever linked in my mind - perhaps the way that people remember what they were doing when JFK was shot. A meaning-making woman and a meaning-making baby girl . . .
For each child that's born
The morning star rises
And sings to the universe Who We Are
We are our grandmothers' prayers
We are our grandfathers dreamings
We are the breath of our ancestors
We are the spirit of God.
- "We Are" from Sweet Honey in the Rock's Sacred Ground CD
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