10/20/2024
My father started beekeeping when his grandchildren were being born. In my Father’s constant ingenuity, he thought he would raise bees and produce honey because at that time, the government subsidized beekeeping. As soon, as he started, the government stopped the subsidy program. But he became enthralled and continued beekeeping up to his passing. Bee folklore says when a beekeeper passes, the bees will leave their hives to follow the soul of their master. This summer both of my Father’s beehives disappeared. Also, folklore says bees will follow the loved ones of the deceased. This summer, also out of nowhere, the empty beehive at my son Jacob’s house, the bees arrived and filled the hive.This weekend I spent collecting my Father’s hives and frames to place them in storage. As I packed up the hive boxes, a rabbit sat next to the chair my Father would sit as he cleaned and prepped his hives and practiced his Masonic rites. Pastor Bonhoeffer said, “There is nothing that can replace the absence of someone dear to us, and one should not even attempt to do so. One must simply hold out and endure it. At first that sounds very hard, but at the same time it is also a great comfort. For to the extent the emptiness truly remains unfilled one remains connected to the other person through it. It is wrong to say that God fills the emptiness. God in no way fills it but much more leaves it precisely unfilled and thus helps us preserve — even in pain — the authentic relationship. Further more, the more beautiful and full the remembrances, the more difficult the separation. But gratitude transforms the torment of memory into silent joy. One bears what was lovely in the past not as a thorn but as a precious gift deep within, a hidden treasure of which one can always be certain.”As I sat looking at the emptiness of the garden after packing his belongings, the cold wind blew the leaves across the ground and I knew I was not alone and I also knew there will be another spring to continue that ingenious dream.
