Last night I celebrated Bob Hunter. There was a group of friends and family and Greenpeace supporters carrying on at Bimini’s yesterday. It was a celebration of Bob Hunter, one of the founders of Greenpeace (and quite a character). Bob passed away last week and although you could feel the sorrow in the room, you could also feel the joy and love.
Many legends of Vancouver and the Greenpeace movement told stories about Bob, and almost everyone mentioned his laugh. I was most moved by family friends who talked about losing a parent and how the best thing you can do for a family member, especially a child, is to tell them stories about their parents. As I get older, I’m more and more interested in family stories, in recording them and remembering them. One of the speakers mentioned that when you reach the age your parents were when they had you, you really start to think about their life.
I remember as a little girl how I couldn’t imagine my mom being a little girl. And maybe that’s it, you have to reach their age when they met you, and suddenly things make sense, you can now imagine that age.
My friend’s kids keep teasing her about writing down some crazy sayings she has. For my friend, these aren’t crazy sayings, these are her mother’s sayings that she’s suddenly rediscovered. Her retort to her kids has been, don’t worry about writing them down, they’ll come flooding back to you when you have kids.
My heart goes out to Bob’s kids and his wife. I still think about the family members that I’ve lost and it doesn’t necessarily get easier, but the painful moments seem softer.