28 Mar News from Experienced Goods: April 2023
The month of March felt a little like the title of the Oscar winning movie Everything Everywhere All at Once. Although T.S. Eliot called April the cruelest month, I hope it doesn’t take its cue from March. Of course, there was the snow storm to end all snow storms, 42 inches of the stuff where I live and 2 days without electricity. Karen wisely opted to announce on Saturday the 11th that Experienced Goods would be closed on the Tuesday of the storm. I was still digging out on Wednesday and stayed home to tend the wood stove and shovel in 1-hour shifts. I love Vermont and fully intend to live here for the rest of my life, but golly, that was challenging.
March was also a month of losses. At Experienced Goods, for all the fun we have and the upbeat nature of the shop, we are always aware that Brattleboro Area Hospice exists to support and ease the grief of people who are dying and their loved ones. We raise money for an organization that serves the community at times of great sadness and vulnerability, and that offers programs to guide people through the disorienting experience of losing someone important to them. This month I want to honor the memories of 5 people who left this world recently: Karen’s brother Michael’s partner Mark’s mother, Van; Gemma’s mother Kay; Jonas Fricke, much loved artist and musician from Brattleboro who died at the way too young age of 42; Karen’s sister’s mother-in-law Edith; and my friend from college, Tasche, brother of my dear friend Ruth.
Van generously asked that her clothing be donated to Experienced Goods, and what a lovely donation it was. Beautiful garments in pristine condition that brightened up our spring racks and generated significant income for the shop. Kay (pictured here in front of the angel wings at 80 Flat St) was always a bright light when she came to Experienced Goods to shop and visit with us, and Gemma devoted so much love and time to giving Kay comfortable, joy-filled final years. And Jonas. So many friends and family members have offered eloquent, deeply emotional words to describe this talented, openhearted man, gone too soon, leaving a tremendous hole in the life of the artistic community. Edith was described by Karen as spunky, a live wire, apt to say whatever she thought with no regrets, living life to the fullest to the very end. My friend Tasche was, as his sister described him in his obituary, a towering intellect, a talented harpist and multi-instrumentalist who wrote, taught, made many recordings of traditional and original harp music and was highly respected in the harp and traditional music communities. He was also a funny, kind man with a generous heart.
It is hard to get my head around the fact that these people are not in the world anymore. As prosaic as it is to say that dying is a part of life, something that will happen to all of us eventually, understanding and accepting that someone is no longer there and never will be again feels almost impossible. It’s a reality that becomes normalized as time passes; with the love and support of others, those who are grieving start to heal, and the memory of the lost person becomes something to celebrate rather than mourn. I wish for the loved ones and families of those who have passed on: this healing, this peace, this celebration. It is spring at last after a long, dark winter and I have seen crocuses and daffodils, little miracles, pushing through the soil. The sun is starting to radiate actual warmth. Customers at Experienced Goods are asking for shorts. April, you are not cruel at all, but filled with possibilities.
~Jennie Reichman