I just finished reading In Sunlight and in Shadow by Mark Helprin. A sentence near the end of the book resonated with me deeply. “…in the end the whole world is nothing more than what you remember and what you love, things fleeting and indefensible, light and beautiful, that were not supposed to last, echoing forever…” (Helprin, 702).
I have built a memorial to hold the ashes of my cat, Smooch. There was a spot she loved up at our cabin, in the tall grasses under the aspen trees. I dug out a circle and put half of her ashes in it. Then I made a white quartz border with the letter, “S” going through the middle, from top to bottom. I filled the negative space with dark rocks. I then built a rock path leading to the spot. That was two weeks ago. When I arrived this weekend, there was a penstemon blooming right next to the spot. The amazing detail is that it was not the florescent lavender or bright pink of the other penstemons on our land. It was a deep, almost black, purple. As silly as it may sound, I couldn’t help but feel it was in some way, acknowledgment of her presence.