Making Peace With The Past

28 Jun

In 2000, my youngest brother died from brain cancer (glioblastoma). My entire worldview was turned upside down. I no longer had four brothers. How could that be? The loss left a hole in my heart.

At the time of his death my mother made a decision, without consulting the rest of the family, to have my brother cremated and his ashes interred at Calvary Episcopal Church in Asheville,  North Carolina.

My objection was that he was not from North Carolina and we were Catholic and I just didn’t think it was what he would have wanted. But he was no longer available to ask. The whole thing felt wrong to me, but that was my mother. I don’t fault her.

Memorial walkway

Visiting the cemetery this week, I did not expect to find a view of the mountains in the distance and the most beautiful little Gothic-style brick church.

Grave stones date back to the Civil War
Simplicity as its best
The stained glass fills the church with light

There were pillows and kneeling cushions lovingly hand stitched by parishioners.

Church ladies’ at work.
More delicate stitchery

We were shown around by a delightful church secretary who opened the church and gave us a history lesson.

Stephanie was a delight

All in all, after shedding a few tears, I felt closure for the first time since he died, 25 years ago.

The final surprising piece was that the original homestead where the church now stands was purchased by a Brit named Daniel Blake. My brother’s daughter is named Blake and her partner is Daniel!

DOS TORTAS

6 Responses to “Making Peace With The Past”

  1. Lisa's avatar
    Lisa June 28, 2026 at 10:37 am #

    wow! Michael is actually where he’s supposed to be.

    Liked by 1 person

  2. LJones's avatar
    LJones June 28, 2026 at 11:54 am #

    This is so sweet Alex – really touching – thank you for sharing it – xoxo

    Lorrie Jones
    Simple Serenity
    simpleserenity.comhttp://simpleserenity.com/
    253.312.3117

    Liked by 1 person

    • afish25's avatar
      afish25 June 28, 2026 at 1:59 pm #

      It feels like a good letting go. Settled, peace. My brother is at rest because I’m at rest.

      Like

  3. Jack Scott's avatar
    Jack Scott June 29, 2026 at 2:22 am #

    Some things are just meant to be.

    Liked by 1 person

Hey hey what have you got to say!

All About Jack

Jack Scott, author of Perking the Pansies and Turkey Street

Emilie Vardaman

travel and random thoughts

Your Hand in Mind

Musings of a human factors engineer after her brain was released...

Surviving Yucatan

Smoothing out Mexico's rough spots.

Surviving Mexico

Adventures and Disasters

Perking the Pansies

Jack Scott's random ramblings

WordPress.com News

The latest news on WordPress.com and the WordPress community.