I was looking forward to participating in the Zoom summer solstice commemoration with my friend Jyoti Wind.  But, I emailed her and told her I didn’t know if I could participate Sunday evening, June 20, because a very sad happening – not an unexpected one – had occurred that morning. 

Maybe the reason I often participate in her inspiring Celtic ceremonies is because of the Irish blood that pulsates in my veins, or perhaps because I went on a Celtic journey with Jyoti eight years ago, or because I so admire this woman who is pushing 80. Jyoti is a writer of many books and blogs, a teacher, a photographer, and an astrologer. 

In preparation for the celebration, I placed next to my computer a vase with a red Rose, which I had accidentally knocked off the bush the day before. Jyoti had suggested bringing several items to the event, and a rose was one of them. 

As the time for the start of the summer solstice experience approached, I found myself walking past my office and saw the rose in the vase. Oh, what the heck.  I might as well join in.  I don’t have to say anything. I am too bereft to speak. 

Although I had no energy and was emotionally drained, I turned on my computer and joined the women from many parts of the country and many walks and stages of life.  Besides the loss I had experienced earlier in the day, I recently had become keenly aware of what little of life was left for me.  Several friends and relatives were dealing with serious health issues or had passed. Also, I recognized that I had completed almost everything on my bucket list.  I thought about exercise on page 21 in chapter two of my recently published book, Paths – A Primer for Ladies-od-a-Certain-Age   A Workbook for the Road Ahead,which is a chart of what you expect to happen in many areas of your life for the coming decades. I dismally reviewed what was likely to happen, and the saying, “Aging is not for sissies,” came to mind. 

Jyoti started with an invocation to the Goddess Aine (Ann).  These were some of her words: “….(Aine) Walk among us bringing the brightness of the sun to our hearts. The veil is thinnest at this time of year with the fairy kingdom.  Magic is in the air.  Aine brings fire and inspiration.”

The alluring ceremony seemed to mesmerize me. First, I thought of the thin veil between the spirit world and our world. Then, I became aware of the rose on my desk.  Its color and smell were deep.  Memories of my great -Aunt Rose came to mind.

She was my grandfather’s oldest sister.  I loved and respected her so much.  Unlike many wealthy women I have known, she was not ostentatious. You would never know she was worth oodles of bucks and was married to a very powerful, successful businessman. Yet, I never knew anyone who did not adore Aunt Rosie, as we called her.

I fondly remember her telling me how she celebrated her eightieth birthday. “My granddaughters came over in the afternoon, and we fixed a pitcher of martinis and had a grand time.” Also, I recalled the delightful little clown she knitted for my young children, ages 4, 2, and 0, which she gave them when she invited the four of us over for lunch. In addition, Aunt Rosie readily shared her treasured cake recipes with me.  Her chocolate cake was a prized takeaway at church bazaars. Her banana cake was the hit at football games her husband hosted in their Denver Bronco stadium box and numerous family events. 

You would never know of the tragedies and disappointments in her life.  It wasn’t until I visited her in her final days at a nursing home that I became aware of her mastectomy.  She was almost 100-years-old when she died.

Slowly my reverie lifted, and I heard Jyoti say, “We light candles to mirror the brightness of the sun’s light, life-giver. We offer flower petals and herbs, especially rose and dog rose, which opens the heart and is associated with fulfillment and expansiveness at the height of summer.  We offer the water of life in thanksgiving for all this season brings us, the abundance of our crops, the golden light of blue skies, warm weather, the opening of new doors, new ways of being on the earth.  We thank you …..”

Yes, thank you, Aunt Rosie, for the great role model you are for me.  And, yes, in 2927, I plan on inviting my granddaughter and friends for martinis on my eightieth birthday!

(Note:  Aunt Rosie is the inspiration for a significant character in the next ladies-of-a-certain-age-mysteries, Murder and a Blue Spruce, I am starting to write. It will be published next spring.)

Copyright – Elizabeth J. Wheeler, July 12, 2021