Mother Bear

On December 21st, we gathered together to celebrate the life of Judith Browning. Judith passed away on December 6th after a struggle with cancer. Judith is survived by her loving husband, Geoff, two wonderful children Erin and Augie, loving siblings and parents.

We were all shocked and terribly saddened by her loss and can still not believe that this incredibly gifted and loving mother bear won't be at our sides calling us "sweetie" or "babe" but if we close our eyes, and listen closely, maybe we'll still hear that whisper of love as her spirit lives on in our hearts.

Durnig the memorial service, one of the most touching moments was Erin Browning reading a poem by Sanley Kunitz. With thanks to Jo Ann Heydron for finding the full text and passing it along, here is the text of that poem.

King of the River

If the water were clear enough,
if the water were still,
but the water is not clear,
the water is not still,
you would see yourself,
slipped out of your skin,
nosing upstream,
slapping, thrashing,
tumbling
over the rocks
till you paint them
with your belly's blood:
Finned Ego,
yard of muscle that coils,
uncoils.

If the knowledge were given you,
but it is not given,
for the membrane is clouded
with self-deceptions
and the iridescent image swims
through a mirror that flows,
you would surprise yourself
in that other flesh
heavy with milt,
bruised, battering toward the dam
that lips the orgiastic pool.

Come. Bathe in these waters.
Increase and die.

If the power were granted you
to break out of your cells,
but the imagination fails
and the doors of the senses close
on the child within,
you would dare to be changed,
as you are changing now,
into the shape you dread
beyond the merely human.
A dry fire eats you.
Fat drips from your bones.
The flutes of your gills discolor.
You have become a ship for parasites.
The great clock of your life
is slowing down,
and the small clocks run wild.
For this you were born.
You have cried to the wind
and heard the wind's reply:
"I did not choose the way,
the way chose me."
You have tasted the fire on your tongue
till it is swollen black
with a prophetic joy:
"Burn with me!
The only music is time,
the only dance is love."

If the heart were pure enough,
but it is not pure,
you would admit
that nothing compels you
any more, nothing
at all abides
but nostalgia and desire,
the two-way ladder
between heaven and hell.
On the last threshold
of the last mystery,
at the brute absolute hour,
you have looked into the eyes
of your creature self,
which are glazed with madness,
and you say
he is not broken but endures,
limber and firm
in the state of his shining,
forever inheriting his salt kingdom,
from which he is banished
forever

Geoff, Erin & Auggie?

OK here goes

I am on a journey that YOU will never forget...I get to write about the most
influential woman in my life.... so many people say this.....I am sure, but
can they back it up with "real life"

TENANCITY---LOVE----COURAGE---PERSISTANCE--DO YOU REALLY THINK I WOULD LET YOU DOWN?

Judith my sweet Judith....how you made me shine, how you trusted
me to show-up and be counted for...when I was challenged beyond my comfort
level it was JUDITH who showed up to create LOVE AND SUPPORT......WHEN jay LEFT THIS JOURNEY AND I WAS IN SO MUCH TAME/SHOCK IT WAS YOU , SISTER, WHO WASHED ME UP TO GET ME READY TO START ALL OVER AGAIN!

Andrea White