THE KEEL

She was our keel.
That stabilizing, balancing, solid piece to our family.
Placed in between two parents and two siblings, she intuitively counterbalanced so many things.
Just like the lengthwise wood or steel structure along the base of the ship,
she helped support the framework that was us.
She was gifted in helping us understand each other,
She was gifted in helping us understand our own selves.

As the oldest, she helped parents understand the kids and kids the parents.
She often gave her Dad and I keen insights into parenting.
She could talk her dramatic siblings off a cliff, out of a fight or up from a bad day.
She cheered her sister in life and pioneered paths for the two of them.
She could talk the youngest of the family into being years older than he was.

Without a keel, we are destabilized.
We don´t know how to relate, to react.
This lack of equilibrium has unended us.
We are lost, disoriented without her.

She made us laugh, compete, converse, yearn for honesty and deepen our empathy for one another.
She was designated mediator, coach and family diplomat.
We miss this steadying piece to our family.
Her aplomb and poise was a genuine gift -
a gift to us, a gift to the world.

She was our keel!
That stabilizing, balancing, solid piece to our family.
Oh Captain, please help us find our sense of balance again.
Help us recalibrate and find a new symmetry that works for us.
Don´t let us be afraid when we get toppled but to rebound & keep trying to find our center.
How important it is in this season to learn this new balancing act.
How important to recognize it will not look the same - for we are all different now.
She was our keel, O God.
But You are still our anchor forever.

¨We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.¨

Hebrews 6:17

Photo by: ZZ Bottom