September 27, 2023
Before dawn this morning, my precious mother slipped gently out of this world. I have been given no greater blessing than fifty-one years of her love and devotion.
"Hear me , elders, hear me, young men,
my beloved mother is dead, she is dead,
my beloved mother is dead, I will mourn
as long as I breathe,"
This quote is adapted from The Epic of Gilgamesh, the oldest surviving literary work. It was composed nearly 4,000 years ago in ancient Mesopotamia.