My dear friend, my ex-husband

[HinduDruid]

I just found out that my ex-husband has died tonight. He was 40 and he had been my best friend for over 13 years.

When we met, we were both kids in pain looking for a home, for some sort of sanctuary, for a person who made us feel worthy of love and the beauty of life. We built a home together full of animals and we were really happy for a long time. But like many relationships, ours changed over time and we drifted apart romantically. He remained my best friend until he remarried last year. We still loved each other like family and wanted only happiness for each other.

Greg was such a generous, compassionate spirit who wanted the best for people even when he was down on his luck. Animals swarmed him as a living St. Gregory, knowing he would love them fully and unconditionally. My beloved Samhain, the kitten we raised to adulthood for 13 years, died in February. Our eldest dog, a very weary 16-year-old Pendragon, is sitting in his house waiting for his daddy to come home.

He was also a gifted musician who could have lived in the bright lights if he'd believed in himself more. I am thankful I helped him create a CD of his music that will now live on.

How am I supposed to say goodbye to someone who was supposed to weave in and out of my life despite our divergent paths? Who understood me and loved me on a level no one else ever has? I don't want him to have passed before he found real happiness. And yet a part of me is relieved that his suffering is over, he can be at peace finally. I pray that he is now surrounded by the all-encompassing self-love he could never feel in his heart here in this life. That he has his mother, Samhain, his childhood dog and all the others who have passed on greeting him with warm hugs as the music of the Otherworld fills his soul with eternal joy and the Grace of God illuminates his experiences with benevolent clarity.

Good bye my sweet friend.

Thank you for this comforting place and space to grieve.

[skydove]

Hi Hindudruid,
So sad to hear of your loss. His love will always be with you . May you find peace and friendship.

[D'Arzhur]

Hindudruid a big for you...and for Greg he will always be with you...

[queenbeebear]

You came together to do the work your souls had planned for. Thinking about you both sending love and light.
Blessings,
QBB
XXX

[Dryadia2]

For Greg
For you, HinduDruid

[HinduDruid]

Thank you all so much for your kindness and sympathy

Yours in the peace of the grove /|\

[Ainevar]

[LadyCelt]

I'm so sorry for your loss. It sounds like you had a rare and wonderful relationship.

[HinduDruid]

Dear ones,

I am about to go to the wake tomorrow and the funeral the day after. Greg was pagan/ Wiccan, but is going to have a RC mass and burial as part of his ancestry and so that he may be buried next to his mother. So I wanted to say some sort of prayer for him in my head -- is there a Druid rite of passage for death? I did a search but couldn't find anything.

I also thought it might help me. I have found the Druid Prayer and the Peace Prayer from the initiation to be wonderfully comforting so if there is nothing specific for death, I will recite those from my heart as I say goodbye.

I'm profoundly grateful to have returned to the Grove before this happened, and feel very lucky to be part of this community.

Many blessings and much love /|\

[Twig]

I feel so sad for you, HinduDruid. What a huge loss. There are all sorts of platitudes to utter at a time like this, but I'll just let you know that I'll be thinking of you tomorrow.

I would love to have sent you some of the Druid Wiccan prayers I found online, but I am just learning how to use Vista and I can't yet post a link. If you have time in the morning, perhaps you could Google "Druid Wiccan funeral prayers."

for Greg
for you

[Selene]

I'm so sorry for your loss, HinduDruid.

For some ideas on ceremonies, try the Ancestors page on the OBOD site, and also Pagan Transitions, which is managed by Ailim, the Host for this forum.

May the returning sun bring you comfort in the days ahead.

Blessings,
Selene