Thursday 15 December 2011

Remembering Ev


Ten years ago today our lovely friend M lost her sister. At 45 years of age Evelyn's death was premature and, for the family, losing her 5 days after an aneurism which came out of the blue, was also just too quick. We had decided to remember her tonight, with a simple lighting of a candle at the beginning of our monthly evening of chewing over chunks of the Good Book. However there was a last minute clash of church events tonight so we decided to join forces with those planning a Movie at the Manse, and instead of reading and talking, we did a bit of watching. The film felt right for the moment: The Way by Emilio Estevez, about a father losing a son and starring his own dad, Martin Sheen. Tom, a wealthy, hard-nosed, ophthalmologist from California goes to Spain to pick up the remains of his estranged (and only) son who has died in a storm  in the Pyrennes on the Camino de Santiago - an ancient pilgrimage across the northern coast of Spain to Santiago de Compestelo. On a whim Tom cremates Daniel's body and sets out to complete the 800km journey scattering his ashes as he goes. I loved the film. Fantastic windswept scenery and a window on the complexities of human interaction gives a beautiful backdrop to the exploration of our vulnerability and spirtiual yearnings and the enormity of pain and loss in grief and separation. (Sorry that sounded quite a lot like film blurb). It was great, anyway. And I cried a lot. Then we went out on Chatsworth Road to place another lovely golden star and we sprayed it for Ev.



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