In Remembrance of Graham Jesse Beckhorn

My precious Graham, during your short life you touched and inspired so many people. Your amazing intellect and talent in physics, math, philosophy, and the sciences led fellow students to seek your mentor-ship, which you gave with humility. Your love of the outdoors and great respect for the Earth made you the best hiking, backpacking, kayaking, horseback riding and trail building buddy one could ever hope for. Your great love for animals, your gentleness, and your compassion for others made everyone around you feel safe, loved, and cared for.

     It’s so hard to live on this Earth without you. Your death has left a tremendous void that can never be filled, a wound that is too deep to heal. But it’s the impact of your life that gives me strength. You brought so much love into the world, it’s warmth fills me now even as I write this. I was forever changed when you came into my life, and forever changed again when you left. But we have a new relationship now, don’t we? My love for you only grows stronger as the days pass, and I can feel you with me wherever I am. Although I ache to see your smile and hear your voice, my Mother Spirit knows that we can never be parted. We share the unbreakable bond of mother and child, an eternal bond that is undiminished by death.

     In everything I do and say, everywhere I go and everything I experience, I will try to make you proud. I’ll live this life in your honor for I am blessed to be your mother.