San Juan Mountains, Colorado
July 21, 2010
photos by Becky Joyce, post-edit by Ananda
See more photos at: http://ashceremonyjuly21.shutterfly.com/
more photos on Sutterfly, click HERE
Friends came from Durango and Silverton, but as far as from Boulder, Moab and Cortez. We circled the stone memorial site together three times and invoked strength from the seven directions before settling into a shady aspen grove. I shared about being midwife for David's passing one year before. We chanted a song Dolores loved about how Spirit dances in the form of aspens... replacing some words so it went "the spirit of David comes to see me, in the form of a beautiful dancing green aspen" (x2). "His eyes fill me with peace, his dance fills me with peace" (x2). Then we chanted "Halleluia" for some time and sat in silence during the moments David was releasing from his body, around 1:50PM, last year.
I introduced Dr. Chuck Salka (to my right in photos) and shared how he was an important and heartful midwife for me the day David passed, in his care, during our office visit. How impressed I was that he made the three hour roundtrip drive to join our circle. I continued sharing how time flowed after he'd passed; how I'd sung and cried and washed and blessed his joints and organs with prayers of humility, releasing his body to Divine Mother with careful attention to each part of his tired body like the prayers on individual mala beads. I asked our circle to hold hands and join me in praying the same prayers of release Id prayed that day, and to then throw our hands up to the sky to release him to higher planes. Immediately after we did this, a great wind came swiftly and powerfully answering through the trees and all around us... we held still to listen...
Some shared about their love for David and his gifts in their lives before we moved to the stone circle. There, each took time with ashes and blessings and appreciations, releasing as best we could our attachments to David's physical form, letting go and remembering. Dolores' sister Pat carried ashes of all three (David, Dolores and Ed) to the four corners of the land, once intended for the family's home, now officially designated LaChapelle Park.
A deep bow of appreciation to Peter Dever who has built the stone circle with hard work and with so much honor of the LaChapelles. He held space for our ceremony from a place of deep care for this land, this memorial site and his friendships with Dolores and David.
Becky Joyce took all the pictures, except this last one below where I luckily captured a fragment of her beauty and strong bond to Dolores and David too. Quinn her two year old son was lucky to have David present at his waterbirth, at home, across the street from our house in Silverton. I was honored to attend births of both sons, newborn Liam is held in the love of Dillon's heart in this shot and much of that sweet day...
After this we enjoyed cookies, fruit, juice and sparkle water while being visited by heavy clouds and fat raindrops and then brilliant sunshine. Dillon and Kyle cooked us up a tasty pasta dinner later that evening and shared the video of their recent wedding at the feet of Mata Amritanandamayi. Last year, David got to taste the light of their new union and offer his enthusiastic blessing too before he would join the great ocean of love from whence he came...
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