LEE KLINGER LESSER
Journeying with Charlotte through her Dying
Continued...
The Last Class
The last Thursday night class we had was on August 21. I had been away for one month and this was the first class after I returned. Charlotte was in a deep sleep all through the class. Her breathing was loud and distinctly audible. The class began late after a visit from Charlotte’s doctor. As it was so late, we simply sat and sensed together, each of us being with Charlotte, with breathing and each other in silence. It was a time of deep quiet. After about 35 minutes, I invited the five of us to turn towards each other and sit in a circle, to share what we were feeling or to say anything to Charlotte that anyone wanted to say. Reza read a poem by Rumi that he had been carrying in his wallet. He said it came up very strongly in him as we were sitting and he hoped it was o.k. to read it, because it was about death. His voice resonated with depth and simplicity as he read this poem to us and to Charlotte:
On the day I die, when I’m being carried
toward the grave, don’t weep. Don’t say,
He’s gone! He’s gone. Death has nothing
to do with going away. The sun sets and
the moon sets, but they’re not gone.
Death is a coming together. The tomb
Looks like a prison, but it’s really
release into union. The human seed goes
Down in the ground like a bucket into
the well where Joseph is. It grows and
Comes up full of some unimagined beauty.
Your mouth closes here and immediately
opens with a shout of joy there.
~ Rumi
Marcela shared a beautiful mantra that had come up for her very strongly while we were sitting. She sang it also with clarity and love… the translation was something like “I bow before my own true self.” The melody was beautiful and we all sang with her, filling the space around Charlotte and all of us with gentle, loving sound. Albert, Debra and I each shared some feelings and thoughts, and we ended the class. It was a quiet intimate space with Charlotte in the center of it. We left for the night around 10:30, speaking about meeting the following Thursday if it fit for Charlotte.
Peter, Charlotte’s husband found her at 5:00 a.m., Friday morning. He had the monitor on during the night and Charlotte had been quiet. She found her way to slip away. When one friend found out about Charlotte’s death, he said with joy, “She made it!” Our friend, Norman Fisher said Charlotte had to die alone. If anyone had been there she would have been too interested and connected and would have stayed….