Making & Keeping Time for Grief

On the Birthdays of my Father and Maternal Grandmother

 

Good Morning Beloveds and Happy Sunday,

I planned to write to you all about something completely (or maybe not so completely) different today, but that will come later this month. This week, I realized that today is my maternal grandmother’s 12th heavenly birthday and that tomorrow is my father’ first heavenly birthday. February was so rich that I didn’t realize just how soon these anniversaries were approaching. Honestly, I had half a mind to ignore them and move at the speed of light, but Spirit said, “No, you know better than that now. You know the importance of honoring your grief. Be still and feel your way through.”

So today, I will share with you all a bit about both my grandmother and father in honor of their Piscean lives. I also attended a grief ceremony yesterday that helped me to make space for my grief in a communal way and I will share a bit about that with you all too. I hope you find something to take with you 💛

P.s. I wrote about grief in The Arc of Grief Moves Towards Justice last year so feel free to revisit if you need a little more to help you process or think or be ✨

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Martha O. Jones-Sumrall

My maternal grandmother, Martha Onita Jones-Sumrall was a force and she had a knack for numbers. My mother always says that you could call her in the middle of the night with a math problem and she would be able to solve it. She grew up in Selma, Alabama as one of many children in the household and she attended Lutheran schools with her siblings. Her parents, my Great-Grandmother Francis Jones and Great-Grandfather Nathaniel Jones Sr. instilled in their children the value of education, hard work, and spirituality. My grandmother grew up prioritizing her education and supporting her parents on the farm and in the household. She was also a twin to my Great-Aunt Mary and was known to be the one out the twins that would ‘stand-on-business’, if you will. Throughout their lives, my Aunt Mary’s mouth would get her into trouble, but my Grandma Martha would always be there to defend her.