In memory of Anna, my beloved mother-in-law
May 15, 1920 - July 11, 2006

It's empty and it hurts. A dark hole is inside me and I don't know how to fill it. To live together with my Anna for almost sixteen years has made me happier than anyone can imagine, it was a blessing to have this little sweet lady in our family. I don't know how to fill this emptiness.
A last goodbye, a last farewell often means one look back to the years gone bye, the time we shared. And time was something Anna was generous with, she always took her time for us in our little family, she always gave from herself.
Anna suffered from a hard life, a life with pain and misery in the nazi camp, the trauma she lived through never left her completely. And yet she was the sunshine, she was all that we wish we could be. We shared sorrow, we shared joy, we shared life.
Thank you, Anna. We miss you, I miss you.

"I miss your laughter, fun, and gentleness.
I miss the things I used to do for you.
I miss the time, now filled with emptiness,
When each day was a stage for something new.
I miss your love, though mine for you remains,
A passion with no outlet to the sea,
A teardrop in a desert, that contains
What's left of my maternal ecstasy.
I miss your presence, like a silent chord
That anchored even solitude in grace.
I miss, for my love's labor, the reward
Of seeing some small pleasure in your face.
All these I miss, and yet they are all here
Within my heart, far more than I can bear."

"How might a spirit settle in the wind?
After death, how might a soul find peace?
Love lasts long after lips and laughter cease,
Leaving only memories behind.

Out of longings, one might linen spin,
Weaving well the welkin edged with fleece.
Each spirit must from wandering seek release,
Else ever through the weary midnights wend,
Not resting till love's angels dark descend."