In my tradition, today is All Saints' Day, a day given to remember and mourn those who we loved that passed in the year before.

the most memorable All Saints' Day for me was in 1989. It had been a stressful year (my parents moved to Illinois, I realized I was going to have to make the decision about going to grad school) and then my grandmother died. (My mom's mom). She and I had been close, at least, as close as a grandmother and grandchild who lived some 800 miles apart could be.

it was the first visitation and funeral I remember going to.

Even in all that, I guess I didn't take sufficient time to mourn. Her death and funeral were in August, and then, in November, on the Sunday nearest to All Saints' Day, the minister talked about the meaning of the day.

then we sang For All the Saints. I started thinking of my grandmother and I started bawling. (It was okay though, they understood me well at that church). To this day, I tear up when I hear the hymn.

(The Cyber Hymnal is a lovely resource site for Christian hymn words and tunes - most of the old favorites seem to be there. I found it when I was looking for the words to "For All the Saints").