{"id":406,"date":"2014-02-02T20:45:12","date_gmt":"2014-02-03T00:45:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/katrynka.net\/?p=406"},"modified":"2014-02-03T10:33:08","modified_gmt":"2014-02-03T14:33:08","slug":"stop-all-the-clocks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/katrynka.net\/?p=406","title":{"rendered":"Stop all the clocks&#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/euler357\/12278440175\/player\/f6bc017bc7\" height=\"500\" width=\"463\"  frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>This post has been rumbling around in my head for a couple days. I hope that I can do justice to this topic, because this is very important. <\/p>\n<p>This week a dear, dear friend passed away. Katie McGuire was an amazing woman who touched many lives throughout her lifetime. I met her 30 years ago when she was at my physical therapy school recruiting counselors for MDA summer camp. When I was told of her passing on Thursday morning, I felt such shock and disbelief. She was still so young, and so vibrant and full of life. Since Thursday I have wanted or almost expected to hear an announcement on the radio, or read about her in the newspapers. She held such an important place in the lives of so many people, extending way beyond the boundaries of her family, who of course will miss her more than many of us can imagine. There is a poem by W. H. Auden that expresses what I feel.<\/p>\n<p><em>Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,<br \/>\nPrevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,<br \/>\nSilence the pianos and with muffled drum<br \/>\nBring out the coffin, let the mourners come.<\/p>\n<p>Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead<br \/>\nScribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead,<br \/>\nPut crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,<br \/>\nLet the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.<\/p>\n<p>He was my North, my South, my East and West,<br \/>\nMy working week and my Sunday rest,<br \/>\nMy noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;<br \/>\nI thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.<\/p>\n<p>The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;<br \/>\nPack up the moon and dismantle the sun;<br \/>\nPour away the ocean and sweep up the wood.<br \/>\nFor nothing now can ever come to any good.<br \/>\nW. H. Auden<\/em><\/p>\n<p>To me this just conveys the sense of how the world is a little less without Katie, things do not shine quite as brightly. Someone wrote (I&#8217;m sorry I cannot recall who) on a Facebook post that when Katie was with you she made you feel like you were her best friend, and that was just so true. She was always so surprised, touched and thankful when anyone would give her a gift, or acknowledge how much she had helped them. She did not see anything amazing in the way that she gave so much of herself. It was just the way she was.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/euler357\/12278445695\/player\/c2eef88744\" height=\"304\" width=\"500\"  frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>When Katie had a battle with cancer many years ago, I remember that I was doing a home health job, so I spent many hours in my car. I would pray for Katie whenever she entered my mind, praying for her to be pain free, and to have peace in that moment, as well as for her healing. I remember telling God that he could not have her yet, that she had to many things left to do on this earth, too many people here still needed her so much. When I talked to her about this later, she said that she could feel when people were praying for her, that there were times when all of the sudden the pain would stop, or she would feel lifted up and full of hope and energy. When she shared that the doctors felt that she had beat the cancer, I remember being so happy that she would be with us for years to come. How I wish that it had been many more years than this.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/euler357\/12278440595\/player\/02aa14164d\" height=\"279\" width=\"500\"  frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Since Thursday I find myself thinking of Katie all of the time, missing her, thinking of her children, grandchildren and other family, I also think of all of us whose lives she has touched. For perhaps the first time ever, I have found myself looking forward to a funeral. If I can&#8217;t be with Katie again, I want to be surrounded by people who love her, who understand what an amazing person that she was. People who will understand that all the superlatives in the world are not enough to accurately describe our dear, sweet, wonderful, special Katie McGuire.<\/p>\n<p>And I am thankful for our short phone call a week ago when we made plans for two weeks from now for lunch. I would have much rather had the time spent with her, but at least I got to talk to her one last time.<\/p>\n<p><em>Death is Nothing at All<\/p>\n<p>Death is nothing at all.<br \/>\nI have only slipped away to the next room.<br \/>\nI am I and you are you.<br \/>\nWhatever we were to each other,<br \/>\nThat, we still are.<\/p>\n<p>Call me by my old familiar name.<br \/>\nSpeak to me in the easy way<br \/>\nwhich you always used.<br \/>\nPut no difference into your tone.<br \/>\nWear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.<\/p>\n<p>Laugh as we always laughed<br \/>\nat the little jokes we enjoyed together.<br \/>\nPlay, smile, think of me. Pray for me.<br \/>\nLet my name be ever the household word<br \/>\nthat it always was.<br \/>\nLet it be spoken without effect.<br \/>\nWithout the trace of a shadow on it.<\/p>\n<p>Life means all that it ever meant.<br \/>\nIt is the same that it ever was.<br \/>\nThere is absolute unbroken continuity.<br \/>\nWhy should I be out of mind<br \/>\nbecause I am out of sight?<\/p>\n<p>I am but waiting for you.<br \/>\nFor an interval.<br \/>\nSomewhere. Very near.<br \/>\nJust around the corner.<\/p>\n<p>All is well.<br \/>\nHenry Scott Holland<br \/>\n<\/em><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/euler357\/12278989666\/player\/13ea2f5204\" height=\"335\" width=\"500\"  frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This post has been rumbling around in my head for a couple days. I hope that I can do justice to this topic, because this is very important. This week a dear, dear friend passed away. Katie McGuire was an &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/katrynka.net\/?p=406\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mda","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/katrynka.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/katrynka.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/katrynka.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/katrynka.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/katrynka.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=406"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/katrynka.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":417,"href":"https:\/\/katrynka.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406\/revisions\/417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/katrynka.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/katrynka.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/katrynka.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}