Winter

Just this week I attended a lecture by Adam Gopnik, put on by CBC and the Massey Lectures. Andrew loved to listen to the CBC.

The theme this year was Winter.

Most people view winter in contrast to spring. Spring is seen as a beginning and a resurgence of life after winter slowly subsides to longer warmer days, which are often spent getting reacquainted with friends.

Winter is cold and night falls early, people chose to spend very little time outside, retreating to the indoors and a more solitary life.

Gopnik however felt that rather than this view of winter, he views winter as a time of remembrance. He felt that as the snow fell from the sky blanketing the the ground in white, it brought with it a peace and tranquility as the sounds of the world were muffled. Gopnik lectured that it's in this time, after spring and summer and fall have passed, that we take the time to reflect upon the moments and experiences we had. I liked that point of view.

From the many posts in this blog I feel that winter can be used as a metaphor for the time spent since Andrew's passing and the loss of his warmth and generous smile. We all feel that loss and we are longing for times spent with Andrew. However, I feel that this winter metaphor is also appropriate in that, if in winter as with this blog, we take the time to remember and share our cherished moments. In this way we are all sharing in the same winter. It may not have the warm breeze on lazy days, but it does offer time to reflect and remember.

I know that as the days shorten and the coats get pulled tighter around ourselves, I will also be remembering and cherishing the moments I had with Andrew. In that way, in this forever winter, I will aways remember my brother.