Reflections II

When my mother was young, there was a young man who fell in love with her and wrote her a love letter, in which he declared (in French) :

Je suis un philosophe / I am a philosopher

Philo means to love
And I love Sophie
Therefore I am a philosopher.

We are all together here today because in various ways, all of us are philosophers – we all loved Sophie.

The next reflection that I would like to share with you on this special day is a Polish poem, which is written on the monument to the Warsaw uprising, in the Powazki cemetery. Before I read it in Polish, I will share with you our home-made English translation :

One doesn’t live in order to fight
No . . . one fights in order to live
And when life’s road comes to an end
Then look death in the eye, and go

Z pomnika powstancow na Powazkach :

Nie po to sie zyje, by walczyc
Lecz walczy sie po to, by zyc
A jesli ci zycia nie starczy
To smierci spojrz w oczy, i idz.

Pacierz / Prayer for the dead :

And finally, I would like to share with you a Polish prayer, which my mother would say every day after the death of my father, and which we will now say for her. This is the English translation.

Grant her everlasting rest, Lord,
And may eternal light shine upon her.
May she rest in peace for ever. Amen.

The prayer is written on the back of the Nekrolog, and if you are familiar with Polish, I invite you to say with me :
Wieczny odpoczynek racz Jej dac, Panie
A swiatlosc wiekoista niechaj Jej swieci
Niech odpoczywa w pokoju wiecznym. Amen.

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Reflections by Ania Abbott Grobicki at Cremation Service 8th September 2008

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