Under the Strawberry Moon: Marking the passage of time

Today is the Summer Solstice — exactly one year since my beloved Harold died. It’s also the first time since 1967 that the full moon and the Summer Solstice have coincided. The next time will be 2067. As this article in Science Alert says, this event happens once in a generation.

The moon will be exactly full at 6:43 EST. That’s also the exact time that Harold died. I don’t believe in coincidences. As I told an audience full of people last year during a Story Slam event in Newburyport, for me it was no coincidence that he departed on the Solstice — the longest day of the year. I always called him “the man who swallowed the sun”. He was the most radiant person I ever knew. He was indeed a force of nature.

As I considered what to share on this important day of passage I found this quote from Harold.

Last night the friends who sat vigil with me a year ago came over to mark the year anniversary. They are among the many who have loved and supported me this year and my gratitude is boundless.

Tonight another of my dearest and oldest friends, John, who was with me the night of Harold’s heart attack (the universe always seems to provide the support we need when we need it!) will walk out to the beach at Plum Island with me and sit under the Strawberry Moon. I will see Harold there and remember. “We are a part of this universe…Something marvelous is always going on and I’m part of it.” Thank you Harold for everything you were and are…what you knew and what you know. A lover of life then and now. As I mark the passage of time, I appreciate what is beyond time. An eternity of love.

I hope you all enjoy the moon tonight.

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Here’s a re-posting of the short video I put together last year from a conversation I had with Harold several days before he died.