Our distance is only space and time but our relationships will always be meaningful. -- Stephanie Bernritter
This weekend we had the absolute heartbreak of hearing that our dear friend Stephanie passed away last week from complications resulting from a 10-year battle with leukemia. Her strength and energy often defied her vulnerability so much so that we always believed her to be immortal. Needless to say, her passing was stunning and surreal. She was a ray of light, a powerhouse, a person for whom the world spins, and in the wake of her spaceship she leaves a legacy of mythical proportion. She lives on in us and all those she knew -- indeed immortal.
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_7609271
http://stephaniebernritter.legacy.com/LMW/MemorialSite.aspx
Who Steph is shines best through her own words:
Monday, June 25, 2007-
Well. This is it for me. I'm officially and celebratorily signing off
the caring bridge. All of my friends, supporters, family, loves,
teachers, students, doctors, nurses, and freaks... THANK YOU.
It is an amazing trip that here I sit- about 1 year later and so much
healthier. Unbeknownest to me last year this time I was visiting home
in Seattle when the leukemia peaked its rude and ugly head again. We
have all covered so much ground, truly, and managed various stresses,
struggles, and heartache during the last year. A war still rages in
Iraq, gas is over $3 a gallon, the ozone is dissipating, fires are
raging... need I go on? However, amidst all of the hurt and suffering,
I still maintain hope.
Why?
Why do any of us choose to invite love and healing into our lives?
Because it IS the natural order of things. It is the way. Buddha was
reborn 549 times before he knew it was time to stay in his own form and
body. As a descendent of a wandering ascetic I understand the
philosophy that speaks no language- but is communal language for us all
to hear. It is within ourselves, our light and our truth. It is the
wind, a flower, the river, a wave, the birdcall, a cat's meow, our
mother nature in her silent beauty reaching for all of us. I hear
babies cry in my dreams- and I also hear children laugh. I encompass
all of these deities. As do you- together, us.
I sit here today facing new struggles and wondering if I have what it
takes to write a paper. We are simply met with what we doubt within
ourselves. Why? In order to achieve success and continue moving. This
is what I love most. Moving energy. Coming into my own light source and
the symbiotic energy of the moving world around me.
Kevin and I have been blessed. We spent 2 months traveling- Costa Rica
among other stellar places. The home is where the heart is as our
external environments also reflect internal landscapes. I loved my
Costa Rican brothers and sisters- gracious and daring and funny and
small in stature. Compared to my long, big body. At times, I felt out
of sorts and insecure. Struggling with Spanish, self-conscious. And
then, I would simply relinquish this identity and breathe into myself
and simply feel Stephanie.
I love her. I love you.
Eventually, in the 2nd century, Buddha was given a face. An identity in
the way of man. Before that Buddha image was simply a composite of
similes and metaphors. Buddha was the image of the water, the parrot,
the banana tree, the fish, the universal truth. As we all continue
along our path it is my desire that we are able to continue to
relinquish and surrender. I obsess when I lose something- an almost
daily event. I am working on letting go of my desire to attach my
identity to material objects. I still have a long way to go...
I hope that as you meet yourself and others on your path that you can
create an image of absence with your own breath of presence. That you,
too, may entertain and respect the paradox of which we are all a part.
That you continue to reflect on your own blessed life and walk through
fear and negativity into your own sacred space.
Namaste.
Pura vida.
Peace out.
Love Love Love
stephanie
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