Dear IF readers,
ctober is our annual issue for honoring the dead of our family, and those sick and suffering as well. In North America, there is Halloween as derived from the European Celts. In Mexico, at this time of year, it is the Day of the Dead. All over the world, we make space to keep our loved ones nearby even if they have passed on from this life. We build graves, tombs and caskets and make elaborate rituals around death and death’s markers. October is also our month to stop on our World Tour in Africa.
For me personally, I have never lost anyone of my immediate family to death. But I keep my beloved cat of 18 years and his ashes on my bookcase in their pretty, wooden box. There is no question for me as Alex’s mother; I am to keep watch over him for my natural life even though his natural life is over. And so I wonder in awe at those lost to others in our human family.
The stories that came in for this issue were remarkably about how death connects families rather than separates. Our new writer Claire Hall gives us a moving witness experience to a burial cremation of a 12-year old boy in Bali and the community that came together to celebrate him. Kent Converse tells us of his Rotarian daughter Loannie and her biological father’s connection to another family, a soldier lost and the ceremonies of remembrance that turned a tragedy into a redemptive journey.
Once again we have new writers, and we are thrilled to introduce Claire Hall and Gabrielle Scelzo. Claire Hall is a traveler and we thank Kent Converse who asked her to join us here at IF mag. We receive her jewels thrown off boats, planes and trains that vessel her around the world. Gabrielle is our new youth writer and at age 11 astonishes us with her profound intuition and talent. Brava Gabrielle, brava.
Cheryl Paley and her New Global Family brings the healing practices of East and West together in her article, “The Yellow Brick Road”. Here at International Family Magazine we have the wonderful ability to share information across cultures, countries and pedagogies. Cheryl explores how her participation in Eastern non-traditional health care became her journey to wellness and Oz.
There is a special story in this issue that I recorded from a friend in a diner one day. It is the story of a friendship between two women that might have been adversaries. When the man that each woman had been married to at separate times became stricken with terminal cancer, they found a common ground in their grief. The women now share a friendship that was brought about by loss. The story is titled the “The Giving in Loss”. Reading this story wipes bitter from your heart and replaces it with soft forgiveness.
Africa is in such a state of birth and death. There is the awful death in Darfur and the incredible rebirth in Rwanda. Africa is a powerful country filled with the poetry of mankind. We will work hard at International Family Magazine to give you a peek into the diverse nature and beauty that can be found in this remarkable country. Please click onto the article “Africa” as we begin the journey together.
I will close with the celebratory tone that has been found all over the pages of our October issue that honors the dead. What I found in the stories was a whispered warning to my own life. Somewhere in-between was a union of voice that said, “Live, live, live a life worth celebrating!”
Cheers to the journey,
Cat Wayland,
International Family Magazine,
Editor and Founder, cat@internationalfamilymag.com
Cell 646-413-4884.
