THE CHAIN WILL LINK AGAIN

10 months ago, in the month of November 2018, while we were at OHSU, in ICU, Bob looked at me and said, “I hope my death will bring the family back together – I can’t leave a legacy, but at least I can hope my death will be worth it, in this small way.”

He DID leave a “legacy”; maybe not what he thought a legacy should be, BUT a legacy, nonetheless.

He left love in his wake.

He left DNA that will go far into the future.

He left beautiful memories that all of us cherish; in our own ways, because each of us have memories that are specific to us.

He left wisdom & guidance that reaches beyond the grave – because he is not there! His wisdom & guidance, like him, will always be alive and pulsing with vitality.

And now that I am back on my feet, and grieving is not so raw anymore, I will DO all I CAN do to make sure our kids and grandkids make heaven too - where the broken chain will link again.

This poem says it all, I think:

Little I knew that morning.

God was going to call your name.

In life we loved you dearly, in death we do the same. 

It broke our hearts to lose you. 

You did not go alone,

For part of me went with you, the day God called you home. 

You left us beautiful memories.

Your love is still our guide,

And though we cannot see you, you are always by our side.

Our family chain is broken, and nothing seems the same.

But as God calls us one by one, the chain will link again.

-Ron Tranmer