Thus we celebrate the day that Salv was born …..
Albeit 85 years ago……..
On a First Friday in March
In the little town of Sea Lake
In the Mallee
For which he never lost his love.
This was a man greatly loved
Who loved greatly
And died graciously
No one expected this to happen
But happen it did
As Covid was taking hold of us
Two years back
Absent he is from our lives
And as we persevere with the loss
The constant loss
The day after day loss
We/I remember today
With a lonely gratitude
That I shared many of his birthdays
Over the years
Pharmacy was what he knew
And although he did not love it,
It loved him
And many customers spoke of him
As My Chemist long before
That phrase was a commercial logo.
He was interested in helping and healing people
He spent his life fixing and helping
And the only exception to that
was his beloved four wheel driving trips
in Australia which he enjoyed with a deep enthusiasm
He remained a country boy at heart
Even though his parents moved he and his
seven sisters and three brothers
to a suburban shop premises in Essendon
To be out of the city was his best dream
To be ‘at home’ in his home or garden or garage
was another place of comfort for him
And as l look back at all his years upon the earth
from my position of on-going privilege
now on extended holiday in France
I begin to understand
the fragile brevity each one of us faces
Salv faced the sudden last 86 days of his life
with gentility and nobility
as the cancer dwarfed and stamped on his usually active life
But it had no egress over his smile…
That remained constant until the last few days
And then it morphed into a soft compliance
as death approached.
I believe that death and Salv did a last gentle dance
of spirits before Salv finally gave way to what had to happen
And I salute both his life and his death
And I am eternally grateful that we stood beside each other
For as long as we did.
And several days later
I realise that I am here in France
For three months…..
An equivalent time of Salv’s illness and death.
We did always have an implicit- if not spoken
Understanding of values….
And this time, it is time itself
That soft powdery substance which dissolves in our fingers….
Like fairy floss…. It melts in our mouths.
And disappears before we know it.
This time in France is the first time I have been here without
going home to Salv to be again with him.
So already that hurts.
There was the exception when we came together……
And indeed he did plant flowers with Justin on the terrace.
The flowers did not survive either.
And that is why Justin bought and planted a new crop of flowers
In the very same planter boxes on the terrace on Salv’s birthday day.
Grow flowers grow and delight each passer by.
May it be you.
Remembering Salv Caleo 