It has been six days since my Mother passed away, and longer since I  
wrote to many of you requesting spiritual support.  I'm guessing some  
of you may be concerned about the well-being of my Dad and me,  
wondering how we are doing.

First, I want to express a deep bow of gratitude for all of your  
notes, letters, prayers and affirmations of support.  One of the only  
highlights of this period of mourning has been opening my email inbox  
to be greeted by your words of support, kindness and compassion.  I  
think it also helped my Dad to hear that people from all over the  
world were holding our family in empathy and support.  I've never  
enjoyed email this much!

The past week, I have been inspired and humbled by the resiliency of  
the human heart and our capacity to heal.  I've also been touched by  
the depth of pain, grief and mourning I can touch and endure.  And,  
I've been amazed at how, in the midst of loss and mourning, life does  
go on... there is still food to be cooked, dishes to be washed,  
garbage to be taken to the street and the hundreds of other activities  
that define our humanness, each activity colored for me with the  
emotional tone of sweet sadness.  I feel gratitude for the NVC process  
because it assists me in staying present to my feelings and needs,  
even when they are remarkably uncomfortable.  Remembering Jori's  
empathic presence and support through this entire period brings a tear  
of gratitude to my eyes...

I feel touched watching my Dad as he grieves in his own way.  I'm  
guessing sometimes its overwhelming for him to walk around the house  
that he has shared with my Mom for 40 years, filled with anchors to a  
million memories.  Expressing deep emotion, it seems to me, has never  
been easy for him, so I'm also connecting with how challenging it  
might be for him to have so many raw and tender emotions so close to  
the surface.  I'm so grateful for my training that allows me to simply  
listen to him without an impulse to cheer him up or give him advice.  
I do not ever remember feeling this connected to Dad.

I'm grateful for the community around him in his neighborhood that has  
brought us food and sent us cards of sympathy.  And I'm grateful for  
the small extended family of my nieces who live nearby that have  
supported Dad and me with phone calls and visits.

I am meeting my need for meaning and purpose by supporting, protecting  
and loving Dad.  I think he's doing the same for me.  I feel sad and  
tender a lot the time.  Other times, I feel a new kind of joy  
connecting to the beauty around me as Georgia blooms into spring with  
a riot of flowering trees and shrubs.  I miss Jori, who is in Ohio  
with Robert, Mary and Kathleen offering NVC to over 100 people in  
Columbus today.  I'm grateful she and they are contributing in this  
way, and writing that connects me more deeply to "my" network of all  
of you, sharing NVC around the planet in lots of different ways.  
Tears of gratitude...for being a part of something so much bigger than  
myself.

Soon, I will leave Dad to return to Albuquerque and a full travel  
schedule in May.  I feel so torn about that, longing to continue to  
contribute to him, yet also drawn to re-engage with my part of CNVC's  
mission of nurturing nonviolence and global community.  Writing this  
note to you all is my next step in that direction.

I'd love to hear your responses to what I have written if you feel  
moved to write.

May your day be filled with Peace and Love,

Jim

Jim Manske
Global Community Circle        
The Center for Nonviolent Communication
http://www.cnvc.org/en/community/global-community/global-community-gcc