An Obituary for Someone I Loved

She was a good woman, a good person. She was the salt of the earth and one of those whose voice was never heard. She honored her father and her mother and she honored all the obligations life loaded on her narrow back. She never complained, she never asked for more, she never seemed to turn bitter from having opportunities denied from her.

She farmed the land and fed people whom she had never met. Her animals loved her and she cared for them before caring for herself. She broke ribs when cows fell on her and she broke toes when they stepped on her feet. But she did not complain. She wore a path between the house and the barn, a path through the hard granite, day in and day out, not complaining.

She bent her back from carrying milk pails which weighed as much as a young calf, bent her back until it no longer straightened. But she did not complain.

She was the salt of the earth. She was quiet and she was deep. When help was needed she gave it, wordlessly. If she was thanked, she smiled, shyly, but she did not speak.

May her next life be one of orneriness and fire, of passion and rebellion. May she find peace in the meantime.