Journeys With My Mother's Ashes
Healing Grief Through Travel
by
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…30th April 2013. My journey began. We waited to be called on board at Sydney airport. We were tired. Kirra had flown in from another part of the country. Nick was in charge of the scattering tube containing my mother’s ashes. Ginski would join us in London… … Our flight had been called and we wandered off. On the way to the gate, Nick suddenly dashed back to our seats, we had left the ashes there. That was the first time we nearly lost Mum… …There was one last important act left. We needed to find a container for some of Mum’s ashes. Ewa had been a very close friend to my parents, especially my mother, and had asked if she could have a little of Mum to keep. Of course she could! What we needed was to split the ashes so Ewa could keep the decorated spreading tube and I would have something smaller to carry with me. The spreading tube was quite large and difficult to carry in my cabin luggage. I visualised the nightmare of the container lid coming off and the ashes covering all my overnight possessions not to mention the plane! Even if I emptied it into a more secure container what would I do with the original with my mum’s residual ashes in there? The thought of throwing it out horrified me so this was the perfect solution - the tube would stay in Poland with Mum’s dear friend. On one of our walks, we came across an antiques market. We searched the stalls for something suitable. Initially, I found a metal musical candy tin that I thought could work but no, it wouldn't have been secure enough. At another stall, I came across heavy silver-plated salt and pepper shakers. Mum had a cheeky sense of humour and as she had been a chef I thought this could be the answer. The thought brought a smile to our faces and the decision was made. Mum continued her journey with me in the salt and pepper shakers sealed in the candy tin while part of her stayed in Poland. I moved on… …Slowly but surely grief begins to loosen its grip on our hearts and minds creating a space to begin paying attention to other aspects of ourselves. Aspects also begging to be healed. Results of pasts, scars from traumas, habits and beliefs that once were friends protecting us from the big bad world but now look more like enemies stopping us from living life to the fullest. It wasn’t long before I realised that something still wasn’t quite right…
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About the Book
Death and life beckoned her to travel the world to heal her grief. Journeys with My Mother’s Ashes describes the trauma faced by a daughter who has to manoeuvre the pitfalls and traps after the death of her mother. She realises that the only way toward her healing is to leave the country of her birth and travel the world taking her mother’s ashes with her. Join her on her Grand Tour through life, death, drama, family, healing and lots of travel. There are many moments of both darkness and light, fun and reflection, exploration and realisations and most of all a sense of direction to a brighter future through trusting her intuition. The journey has very few plans yet provides exactly what the author needs through trusting both a loving Universe and herself. So, pack your bags and hop on board you never know what this journey could bring.
About the Author
Hélène Jermolajew is a published poet some of the poems in her collection titled Laughter, Tears and Coffee appear in this memoir. After the death of her mother and twelve months of travel she felt a strong pull to share her experience of grief and healing. This story documents her journey. Her favourite reading material is real stories, memoirs, biographies and self-help books amongst many others although an odd novel does find its way into her hands. She loves languages and reads for both the information in a book and the way language is used to tell a story. Her own style is conversational, she prefers to tell a casual story over a cup of coffee or a glass of wine. She is the mother of two wonderful sons, grandmother to three beautiful grandchildren and has the two most incredible daughters-in-law anyone could ask for.