What a beautiful love story Lisa. thank you! You teach us love and are loved!
On Fri, Jun 24, 2011 at 6:02 PM, Lisa Heft <[email protected]>wrote: > Hello, dear colleagues - > > I appreciate all the love and support you have sent me both on and off the > list as you heard the news of my mother's passing. > > As you may have read from previous messages - I was in Chile facilitating > several Open Space Learning Workshops as my mother was moving through her > transition from life into death. > My father and I have been taking care of her for 10 years as her health has > shifted. They live close to me in a wonderful elders residence and I am > there all the time as we are very close emotionally. My life is a lovely > balance of self care, parental care and this wonderful work that we > facilitator folks do. This time has been a true and bittersweet gift. To be > able to love them both up by being there, caring for them, sharing thoughts > and emotions, and knowing that we love each other has been an amazing gift. > I feel very lucky to have this sort of relationship with my parents, and I > know that not everybody has this opportunity, and I treasure it. > > The last few years have required more care as my mother has become more > delicate in health and our lives have been intertwined as my parents and I > have traveled together through these experiences. > At the end of April my mother became critically ill, and since that time > she had been making an amazingly graceful progression towards death and > release, surrounded by loving care and loved ones. > I had a strong feeling she would die while I was away teaching in Chile - > however my father (and my mother's voice was also very strong inside my > head) said 'Go! Go! Live! This is what it is all about - sharing learning > and community across the world!' about Open Space and dialogue and the power > of a diverse community. Sharing knowledge, love and peace. > So I went. > > My classes and the fabulous WOSonOS 2011 Host Team knew that I was sad and > concerned about my mother and father during my travels, and they loved me up > and held their arms open for whatever shape my concern and worry would take > - while at the same time they traveled with me through rich learning and > exploration about Open Space in these workshops. > > The first group of participants was about 65 graduate students and faculty > of the Masters program in Organizational Development and Strategic People > Management in the School of Economics and Business at Universidad Diego > Portales in Santiago de Chile - as well as members of the 2011 Host > Team. They welcomed my teaching in Spanish (including my various words in > 'Spanglish' that either worked or were hilarious errors) as well as my > sharing about my mother. The talking / listening piece I use in my Open > Spaces is a stone from the sea that my mother gave to me when I was a small > child - so they learned about my love and concern when we went into Closing > Circle in the Open Space meeting that is a part of my workshop. The second > group of participants was about 50 facilitators, coaches and executive > directors of NGO's / non-profit organizations, in our workshop hosted by the > School of Psychology at the Universidad Aldolfo Ibañez in Santiago de Chile. > > One evening during the first workshop dates I suddenly had a feeling that > my mother was waiting for me to return home from my travels before she could > die. I have been at many deaths and have seen this happen, where people wait > for their loved ones before letting go. And I told her not to do that for > me - but to fly...to let go...with my love. I woke up the next day to find > an email message that she had died at that exact moment. No surprise, our > profound connection. > > I came in to that next workshop day with the news that my mother had died. > And I said 'If you are okay with me crying, I am okay with continuing on > with you in this learning journey. It is what my mother would want. She > believes in our work together. And besides - if you want to be facilitators > - emotions happen. This is real. Shall we continue?' And they did, with open > arms. And with stories throughout the day of mothers and love. > > During the second workshop I was of course still quite emotional, and I > shared the story of my mother when we came again to that point with the > listening stone. Once again I was held in open arms and once again we > continued to explore rich learning together in and about Open Space. At the > end of that workshop, one of the participants gave me a gift - a necklace > that her mother made for me. Each night she had gone home to tell her mother > about the workshop, and her mother had felt a deep connection with me even > though we had not met. I treasure that necklace, and that experience. > > My father now wears both his own and my mother's wedding rings - artful > little pieces with lapis, agate, jade and other stones inset in gold. On his > desk calendar, on the day she died, he has drawn a picture of little hearts, > flying away up into the sky. And we look up into that sky and see the stars > and think that one of them - or all of them - is my mother. But then I feel > my mother and father in every word and act and deed I do - I always have - > in every moment of my work with groups and my remembering to be the truest > me that I can be. My mother and father are everywhere in me and in > everything I touch and experience. > > So I am a lucky girl - and most loved, by my parents, and by you... > > Thank you all, and take good care of yourselves and the mothers and fathers > you have or for the mother-father love you have created for yourself inside > of you. > > Perhaps I will see some of you at the WOSonOS in Chile this October... > > Lisa > * > > Lisa Heft > * > Consultant, Facilitator, Educator > *Opening Space* > [email protected] > > > _______________________________________________ > OSList mailing list > To post send emails to [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: > http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org > > -- Suzanne Daigle NuFocus Strategic Group 7159 Victoria Circle University Park, FL 34201 FL 941-359-8877; CT 203-722-2009 www.nufocusgroup.com [email protected] twitter @suzannedaigle
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