Sandra Heska King

daring to open doors

  • Home
  • About
  • DISCLOSURES
    • Amazon Affiliate
    • Book Reviews
  • Published
  • Contact
  • Blog
    • Commit Poetry
    • Dared

When You Need to Remember

February 22, 2012 By Sandra Heska King

 

 

Ash Wednesday.

Ashes.

The words triggered one of those grief waves.

One in which I remember my mom wheeling out to the living room to say she was rooting for the Yankees while we whooped it up for the Tigers. It’s the last memory I have of being at home with her before her fall.

Who knew that in three months she’d be gone?

I regret not spending more time with her.

She wanted to be cremated. But the thought of her reduced to a small pile of ashes I could sift through my fingers still undoes me.

“It’s just her body,” says my husband.

I know.

I know that her spirit took that final journey straight into His arms.

But still.

I stand before him as he dips his finger, close my eyes and feel the sign of the cross on my forehead.

He does not speak the words I expect. “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.”

He says one word. “Remember.”

I tear the bread and dip it.

His body broken.

His blood shed.

And I remember.

Remember how Jesus fixed His eyes on Jerusalem and set out for His final journey.

Remember His tears and how He took all my regrets to the cross.

Remember that moments pass like sifted dust but that each moment passes first through His fingers.

Remember that this journey could end with one more breath, that each moment is a gift.

Remember that others will remember, that I carve memories in their minds.

Remember that He remembers me because He’s carved me in his palms.

Remember to fix my eyes on Him so I can run the race and finish this journey without falling.

Remember that one day my spirit will fall into His arms.

And into hers.

Share this:

  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest

Filed Under: stories and reflections

Comments

  1. Shelly Miller says

    February 23, 2012 at 7:22 am

    Sandy, this made me cry for some reason. Maybe I can feel your grief and it makes me sad. I love this line, Remember that moments pass like sifted dust but that each moment passes first through His fingers. Beautiful! I can feel the emotion of Lent through your words.

  2. Megan Willome says

    February 23, 2012 at 7:46 am

    Oh, I love, love that ending! Yes, one day you will see Him and her again. And how profound to have all that come together for you on Ash Wednesday. Makes perfect sense.

  3. Dea says

    February 23, 2012 at 8:09 am

    “When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong, Because the LORD is the One who holds his hand.” (Ps. 37:24) And underneath are the everlasting arms…

    That hand, those arms….to remember He is holding here until He holds there.

    Thanks for your honest sharing of your journey, Sandy.

  4. Sheila Seiler Lagrand says

    February 23, 2012 at 8:48 am

    Sandy,
    Thank you for remembering out loud so we could share. This piece is so, so….whole.

  5. Jennifer@GDWJ says

    February 23, 2012 at 9:11 am

    Quieted by this lovely piece, friend. Yes, one day… What a Day it Will Be.

    A song to share with you, friend?

  6. kd sullivan says

    February 23, 2012 at 9:22 am

    This. is. profound….a moment of Truth. Epiphany to experience Him like this.

  7. Lori says

    February 23, 2012 at 4:50 pm

    Remembering….conjures so much for us in this life who have lived and lost. We remember Jesus and what He did, is still doing! What a day of rejoicing it will be! Lori

  8. diana says

    February 24, 2012 at 11:15 am

    That last line just ripped.me.up. Ash Wednesday has this strange way of bringing some of the broken pieces together. So glad it did for you – so glad you made the effort to go! Love you. Praying for you – specifically that you can release any and all regret.

    (And I am so with you about the ashes. My husband has always wanted cremation. I finally agreed after asking if we could purchase small plots to bury them. It spooks some people to think about being in the ground, but somehow for me, it brings some kind of comfort. Maybe it’s the ‘dust to dust’ part taking precedence over the ‘ashes to ashes’ part??)

  9. wolfsrosebud says

    February 24, 2012 at 5:51 pm

    loss… a hard thing made easy by God’s comfort

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Meet Sandra

I’m Sandra, a camera-toting, recovering doer who’s learning to be. still. Read more…

Get updates from the stillness by email

Your personal information is safe and will never be shared.

Archives

Categories

Instagram Inspiration

sandraheskaking

“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final t “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” ~ Philippians 4:8 

#fall #southflorida #hope #thoughts #philippians4 #dayafterelection
“My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in th “My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began;
So is it now I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old,
Or let me die!
The Child is father of the Man;
And I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety.” ~ William Wordsworth in “My Heart Leaps Up”

🌈🌈🌈

From my back door and then from the patio. A phone can never capture the true glory of a rainbow. I hope my heart never fails to leap at the wonder of one.
We were monarch parents a couple years back, but o We were monarch parents a couple years back, but our food was not enough to support all our “children.”
🌱
But some were better parents. And next month @tspoetry is celebrating with a garden party. And you are invited. 
🌱

✨ An evening poetry celebration with Dheepa Maturi, Laura Boggess, Jules Jacob, and Sonja Johanson
✨ sign up today: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/year-of-the-monarch-garden-party-tickets-1005650847757
✨
This is called a sweetheart plant. I bought it at This is called a sweetheart plant. I bought it at a farmers market in Ponte Vedra in Feb 2023. And it hasn’t done a thing except not die. I did repot it a few months back just cuz I thought it might need it. A few days ago I noticed it was sprouting a sprout. And today—10 days after having my aortic valve replaced and the day after having a loop recorder inserted—it has UNFURLED!!! A new heart. 🩷
Looking west this morning. “Sometime, enough o Looking west this morning. 

“Sometime, enough of us should plan
to gather and form our own
luminous cloud.” ~ Luci Shaw in “The Weight of Air” (from The Generosity)
Security is on the job. Security is on the job.
So after 13 years of checkups and annual echos, it So after 13 years of checkups and annual echos, it's finally come to this. One week from today I will have my aortic valve replaced. Eeeek! I know it's done all the time--piece of cake. But that's to other people. 😂 Speaking of cake, I've always hoped to blow out 100 candles (at least), and I keep singing this line in my head...

"And my heart will go on and on." Thanks to @celinedion. 💕
Hi! Long time, no post. So… I grew this from a Hi! Long time, no post. So…

I grew this from a pineapple top. We repotted it again over the weekend. Still no fruit, though. Our neighbor has a baby growing on a small plant, though. What’s up with that?

(Also, I do not have a green thumb. Currently the only things still living are this, an avocado, and a little Boston fern.)
We got out here early today, but it was already so We got out here early today, but it was already soooooo hot (later on the"feels like" was 110), and I was just plodding one foot in front of the other wishing I was still in bed. There was not much to see--except the crane family, some blackbirds, a dove. And it was buggy. And a deer fly bit me on the forearm, and it swelled up, and I still have a 1- x 3-inch reddened area. But then... a pink parade.
Just snapped a couple photos of a normal looking s Just snapped a couple photos of a normal looking sky from my back patio with my iPhone! I grew up in Michigan and never saw them before! #northernlights #westboca #southflorida
“So they took branches of palm trees and went ou “So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” ~ John 12:13
🌴
🌴
PALMS

He had a date with them. ~SHK
🌴
🌴
~ Six words I wrote on my blog in 2015 as part of a daily “One Word Less for Lent” series.
🌴
Photo taken in Israel, 2022.
Dressed for success... Dressed for success...
“Sing, hope, to me” ~favorite line from “The “Sing, hope, to me” ~favorite line from “The First Spring Day” by Christina Rossetti via Every Day Poems and @tspoetry in my email this morning. 
❣️
Whole poem (with lots of favorite lines) here:
❣️
https://open.substack.com/pub/everydaypoems/p/the-first-spring-day?r=3acod&utm_medium=ios
❣️
Wild red poppy anemones from our spring trip to Israel in 2022. And, of course, red is the color of hope. 
❣️
#dipintopoetry #poetry #poetrycommunity #poetsofinstagram #tweetspeakpoetry #everydaypoems
Sweet baby colts. Just one parent. Apparently the Sweet baby colts. Just one parent. Apparently the other was hit by a car. 😭💔
Bufo serenade AKA the Ballad of the Bufo Bufo serenade AKA the Ballad of the Bufo
South Florida is confused. South Florida is confused.
“Somehow she learns to breathe.” ~ @gyoung9751 “Somehow she learns to breathe.” ~ @gyoung9751 in “The mermaid breathes,” a woven poem from tweets. In my email today from Every Day Poems via @tspoetry.
🌱 
#dipintopoetry #everydaypoems #poetry #poetrycommunity #poetsofinstagram #poetsofig #tweetspeakpoetry
"You have what you need / is what the birds sing a "You have what you need / is what the birds sing all morning" ~ Annie Lighthart in "Conditions of Happiness."
🌱
In my email this morning from 
Every Day Poems via @tspoetry.
🌱
#dipintopoetry #poetry #poetrycommunity #everydaypoems #poem #poetsofinstagram #tweetspeakpoetry
If you’ve made it this far, the rest of the week If you’ve made it this far, the rest of the week should be a snap. #wednesday
Stay behind me. I’ll protect you. No worries. So Stay behind me. I’ll protect you. No worries. So will all those shots. Mostly.
🦝
D still has PTSD from the Great Possibly Rabid Raccoon Brouhaha of 2021.
Follow on Instagram

Get the Mug

Embrace the life you have t s poetry mug

Privacy Policy

Full privacy policy is available HERE.

I Read Light

TSP-Red button

bibledude-net



Sponsor a Child

Join the Compassion Blogger Network

[footer_backtotop]

Copyright © 2025 Sandra Heska King · Site by The Willingham Enterprise, LLC on the Genesis Framework by StudioPress · Log in