Our State of Mind – A Generation Gone

By Robin Martin – December of each year is a time to reflect on events good and bad, that made the year. Memories to keep in our humble lives for years to come of people and events that gave foundation to our existence, that gave meaning to what family, fortitude, love, and persistence mean in life.As Old Man Winter begins his reign here on earth, in the finale of the year 2020, it is breathtaking and heartbreaking.

Breathtaking in that entire generations of families are now gone. Heartbreaking in that nearly 400 thousand lives loss and 400 thousand families mourn from one unrelenting pandemic.

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December, of each year is a time to reflect on events good and bad that made the year. Memories to keep and share for years to come of people and events in our humble lives, that gave foundation to our existence, helped develop character, or gave meaning to what family, love, persistence, fortitude mean in life.

The loss of a mother, an uncle, an aunt, a grandparent, a cousin creates an abyss in the family’s soul. Yet, the loss is the opportunity to reflect on the joy of their existence.

Their spirits of faith, hope, joy, and peace will forever exist and hopefully that legacy will be passed down to future generations.

It is that legacy which makes losing a cherished member of the family less painful and transition is possible to a celebration of their lives. Their legacies are steeped in this season of faith, hope, joy and peace. Each instilled in the family here on earth.

OSOM celebrates family in this Advent season of hope, faith, peace and joy. The hope of Christ’s birth to save the world and come again, faith that it will happen, peace in knowing it will happen, and the joy of celebration it will bring when it happens.

So, we celebrate the legacy of fellowship so prominent in the lives they lived.

The transcendentalism of their life on earth, to see us through whatever the next year will bring in our family’s existence. My mother, Georgia Newman McCaskill, her brothers, James (Jim) and Lance (Lanzy) Newman, patriarchs of their tribes, all proud grandparents who leave a legacy of faith, hope, fellowship, and love.

They lived to serve family, church and community.

And their niece Marsha Sweet Carter, matriarch,wife, mother, grandmother, cousin, built her legacy on faithfulness, hope, and love.

Even though an entire generation of the Newman family is now gone, may this Advent season increase faith, renew strength, and spare us from deeper sorrows.

It is a blessing they were spared the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic, that walked this earth and devoured so many lives in its’ path.

Ms. Martin is an educator, freelance writer, and 2008 Monmouth University Dr. King Unsung Hero award recipient.