Part 4 of 4
How ironic that my mother, Betty Jean Hawthorne Kuzma was born this day, November 1, 1922. Mother was born, raised and died in Nebraska. She was a scientist, an extraordinary nurse. She truly was a saint to those who knew and loved her. She died July 12, 1997.
It was most ironic that I began my training as a Rubenfeld Synergist on November 1, 1998. Mother had told my cousin, Peggy, “Don’t tell Georgena anything more about this Therapeutic Touch. She will want to stop being a speech pathologist and do it, too.” She knew this work would hold a magnetic attraction for me. As a Certified Rubenfeld Synergist, I would be communicating with people at not only the level of words, tone and body language, but with body wisdom, energy, and the soul self. She saw this as a “woo-woo” modality then. If only she had known that research in the twenty-first century would validate the power of touch to heal trauma and rewire the mind-heart-gut-brain.” P. 74 A New Mourning: Discovering the Gifts in Grief.
So what do we know about All Saints’ Day?
In Mexico All Saints’ Day coincides with the first day of Day of the Dead.
All Saints’ Day, also known as All Hallows, Day of All the Saints,[3] Solemnity of All Saints,[4] or Feast of All Saints[5] is a solemnity celebrated on 1 November by the Roman Catholic Church of Latin rite and various Protestant denominations, and on the first Sunday after Pentecost in Eastern Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, in honour of all the saints, known and unknown. The liturgical celebration begins at Vespers on the evening of 31 October and ends at the close of 1 November. It is thus the day before All Souls’ Day.
In Catholic theology, the day commemorates all those who have attained the beatific vision in Heaven. It is a national holiday in many historically Catholic countries. In the Catholic Church and many Anglican churches, the next day specifically commemorates the departed faithful who have not yet been purified and reached Heaven. Christians who celebrate All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day do so in the fundamental belief that there is a prayerful spiritual bond between those in heaven (the “Church triumphant“), and the living (the “Church militant“). Other Christian traditions define, remember and respond to the saints in different ways; for example, in the Bible and the Methodist Church, the word “saints” refers to all Christians and therefore, on All Saints’ Day, the Church Universal, as well as the deceased members of a local congregation, are honored and remembered.[10]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Saints’_Day
Today I am not mourning my mother’s death. I am celebrating her life.
I am celebrating All the wonderful traits that I have come to love and appreciate:
- Her weigh in every Monday morning. If she was even a pound over her desired 112lbs. she would not eat toast for breakfast or bread at supper! She was gorgeous to her grave
- Her focus on beauty so I grew up in an immaculate, elegant home.
- Her work ethic: “If it is worth doing, it is worth doing right.” She was the original project manager, before such a position existed.
- Her love of her grandchildren and her “Grandma Betty Camp”.
The list could go on and on.
Today I am so grateful that Betty Jean Hawthorne Kuzma was my mother!
Who are you celebrating this Day of the Dead/All Saints’Day?
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