transition

The elder was breathing slower each day and needing to share stories of his childhood. Riding bikes in the neighborhood and leaving them by the water, calling his father’s name and speaking of his love for Lake Michigan. The grandchild listened to each word. Offered their presence. Asked questions of curiosity, held his stories story and put them in a pocket on their chest. Thanked the elder for sharing and reassured that the stories would live on. The grandchild knew that transition was here. They weren’t scared… they transformed in the needed presence to move through. They filled the role naturally, felt the translation in their bones. Their body knew what to do.

Their elder was birthing a new version of himself, going to a new space. The grandchild knew what that looked like - the long and slow process of “somethingelseness” coming to our awareness little by little. Small indications of a need for something to new to emerge. Moving towards.... They had seen it all before, felt it in their bones, was held as they pushed for their needed change too. They offered their gift. The elder accepted and was escorted by their kin to that space.

The grandchild held his hand, cried in tandem, validated what was going on in his body. Through singing, through presence, through touch, they shared the love language of transition together. A gift exchange of movement only made possible through connection with others. New beings emerging, experience running in places unknown and felt, here and elsewhere.