My Oma (Oma is German for grandmother)

I wanted to share with you a poem Oma wrote for a friend of hers, but it was read at her funeral and I wanted to share it with you all. Before I do that though, I wanted to share something with you that I learned about her at her funeral that I didn't know before. I learned that she was part of a weekly book club, I learned she was part of a peace movement group, I learned she wrote poems. These are things a lot of us only found out about at her funeral, because she was a very keep to yourself woman. She never talked about her daily life to us, or about her friends and I think that I have only met 3 of her friends...but I must say it was neat to learn these things about her. I just wish I knew about them before she passed away!!

Retreat

I retreat from the noisy life

to the stillness of the woods,

to the meadows and hills,

to the dunes by the sea,

and I hear the voices of the birds,

the wind in the trees

and the waves on the beach.

I retreat from the busy life

to the stillness of the past,

to my childhood and the places

that once I called home,

and I hear the voices of loved ones

who have left long ago

but still live in my heart.

When I retreat from life

to the stillness of death,

from suff'ring and pain

to eternal peace,

then I'll hear the voices of the sea

calling me to return

to the source of creation.

by Heidi (aka Oma)