A
A Tribute To Tirzah Ann Blackman
Tribute, with Love, to my Precious Wife,
Tirzah Ann Blackman
, on the Painful Transition from Grief to Gratitude
Dearest Precious Tirzah, Erda-Lou, Natasha, Buttercup, Bootsie, Best Friend, Loving Wife,
Our relationship started at a ballet barre and grew into a beautiful marriage of more than 35 years. I remember your effervescent smile during class as we clowned around, and that very high-spirited feeling has remained. In our later years, we kept romance alive by special artistic surprises, daytime dates, classical concert nights on the town, and spectacular debates during long hours at bookstore cafes. Your strength and courage were inspiring to me as you prevailed over chronic disease and injury, maintaining the delightful mischievousness of that first day. Your smile could light up any power outage, and heal any pain. I am proud to have been with you throughout all of our years together, during which we seemingly ascended to new heights of appreciation of the fine arts, both musical and visual. I never knew how close we were to the finale’, during our romantic time in Grand Rapids, with my gleefully pushing your wheelchair through the bookstore as I warned you to prepare for the jump to hyperspace.
That night and the following morning, you faded so fast, with life departing hours after we shared a favorite meal, and suddenly your mellifluous voice was silenced. Your dulcet tones were soon replaced by the concerned calls for help and medical assistance. As the emergency first-responders did their best to revive you, and calm me, I stood rooted in disbelief and near catatonia. Somehow your energy persisted and provided the means to remain engaged as our world shifted uncontrollably on its axis. The frenetic life-saving activity grew and inexorably concluded without success, but somehow I sensed you were still there, a good and gentle guiding energy surviving the tumult.
Recalling the trauma is still almost too challenging to type as a tearful waterfall obscures my sight, and I find myself adrift on that sea of grief. In shock and battered by waves of both sadness and denial, I remembered how you laughed at my awful jokes and impressions. Even after your departure, your love has rescued me from the emotional abyss. The fog of despair has cleared exactly as on that early summer day when the newly emerged sun evaporated the tenacious marine-layer of clouds when we were married, outdoors in that Japanese garden in Long Beach. Thinking back on your playful angelic spirit, I feel an overwhelming gratitude for our beautiful life together, and for the many adventures we created together. Your encouragement and endless devotion to our efforts in the performing and visual arts, despite my consistent shortcomings and ego problems, was a hallmark of our creative life together. Even after your departure, your memory is the instrument of my healing, and enables the energy that permits me to reassemble the seemingly endless shards of our shattered life together, and eventually to make whole my broken heart.
As friends and neighbors gathered to provide comfort, they validated that feeling, and said to look for signs of her continuous presence. Long lost family and friends from far away echoed this, and before long, good things seemed to happen. Echoing footsteps, familiar creaks in the house, the dogs responding to her as they did before, and the local birds providing a backdrop as well, culminating in a large group of cardinals, which I’m told are special in these circumstances. A feeling of comfort ensued later, and I am grateful for your most welcome loving energy that allowed me to bring my music back to life. You have been a true gift from God, and I have always felt it.
I am grateful for all of the things we have done and accomplished together, and I know that you have been an angel sent from heaven, and perhaps the saints simply missed your playful creativity up there. These expressions of gratitude and remembering may somehow initiate my recovery, but I’m submerged too deep in grief over your loss to know for sure. Faith and the spirited interaction with the support of friends and family are the lifeline for each day as we travel farther down the timeline from this difficult parting. As the trauma fades, the memories of things we did together, enriching our lives by our mutual support, remains.
Sometimes, I find it helpful to think of life in four dimensions – the three spacial dimensions, plus time. Memories are the expression of this reality, and incorporating those, loved ones are always with us, living on at infinite time points along the way, enhancing the magic of life in this world. I am proud, humbled and honored to have shared the majority of our timelines here on Earth, and am forever grateful for you and your beautiful spiritual energy.
Our souls have been strongly bonded with our spirits flying as one, and this realization keeps my life on track. As Beethoven, and now I, would say, you are my immortal beloved. For this above all I am ever grateful.
Love, as always – my love goes with you, I miss you powerfully, you have been my everything,
Your Misha-Bob, Pookie, Enrico, Lorenzo, Best Friend, and, from Grief to Gratitude, Your Loving Husband, Larry
Offer Condolence for the family of A Tribute to Tirzah Ann Blackman
Condolence Messages
Dorethea Sparks
January 2, 2023 at 5:41 pm
I don’t know you , but after reading this beautiful rememberance of you’re wife, this was a True Love story that was never made into a movie. My heart hurts for you. I am so sorry for you’re loss.
Reply
Lawrence Blackman
January 8, 2023 at 11:24 am
Thank you for your moving words – the emotions come through with great vitality and have helped me along this jarring road! I am inspired and healed by what you related.
With gratitude and humility,
Sincerest regards,
Larry
Reply
Vicky A Morse
January 3, 2023 at 11:33 am
I wish I could have met your beautiful departed wife and life partner. I have been fortunate and that I still have mine with me and I cherish each day we have together as one. You have written a beautiful tribute of your life together on this earth. I can tell by your writing, the love you felt for each other and I am sure that she would want you to carry on and remember all the good that you had and still have. May Terzah rest in peace
Reply
Lawrence Blackman
January 8, 2023 at 11:31 am
Thank you for sharing your feelings and well wishes in your condolence. Through your words I can feel the support of our town/ community, and know that I don’t have to be alone during this painful and traumatic time. Further, I see to a great distance that healing and the retrieval of my life is possible and likely.
With great thanks for your kindness in writing to one who would otherwise pass as a stranger, I feel as a part of a larger family now.
Thank you and God bless you!
Sincerely,
Larry
Reply
Bobbie Vote
January 3, 2023 at 12:47 pm
Thank you for sharing this tribute. Writing can be so healing, and I hope you continue to use it as you go through this most painful season of life.
Reply
Lawrence Blackman
January 8, 2023 at 11:18 am
Thank you for the kindness of your words and gentle advice. The writing has been helpful, and the pain of this transition has been partly ameliorated by creating this tribute.
God bless and sincere regards,
Larry
Reply
Patricia Magdaleno
January 3, 2023 at 2:14 pm
Your Love together was truly Once in a Lifetime & Magical! A true gift ftom God, you’ll never be alone, Tirtzah will alwsys be watching over you. And so many love & wish you well. Love is forever. We send hugs, blessings & an friendly ear when you need it. God is with you & will guide you through this passage into the light of healing.
Reply
Pedro Aguilar
January 3, 2023 at 4:51 pm
WoW Lorenzo.
You have a way with words.
But I had never seen such of a poetic sunrise after the soul of the love of your life.
Is fulfilling for me to see how much love and how deep your relationship is…
Because is still there.
Even though her body stop breathing. You still carry her in your heart.
Now I would never forget my self for not meet the sunshine and star of your life.
Thank you my Bro for telling us how deep the words of love can go.
Reply
Joanne
January 5, 2023 at 3:22 pm
This was most heartfelt tribute I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading . Your passion and love for each other is illuminated in your words and the life you shared together. I’m truly sorry for the loss of you wife . Many people never find this kind of love in their lives . I pray your souls find each other again .
Peace be with you
Reply
Lawrence Blackman
January 8, 2023 at 11:04 am
Thank you for your kind words and sentiments. These messages of condolence and healing, even from people I have not had the privilege of meeting yet, are precious and I am honored by your writing.
Sincere regard and God bless,
Larry
Reply
Jerome Welnetz
January 9, 2023 at 10:30 am
We’ve never met. I came across this accidentally while looking through obituaries in my hometown. This is the most beautiful things I’ve ever read, she seemed like an amazing woman and it’s clear from what you wrote how deeply you loved her. I’m sorry for you loss.
Reply
Lawrence Blackman
January 14, 2023 at 3:35 pm
Hello Jerome,
Thank you for your kind words and generous compliments. I don’t really know about how the stages of grief are supposed to work, but it’s just been a great turbulence of emotions since Tirzah passed away. The good feelings in your words really cut through the despair.
Thank you for your writing!
Sincerely,
Larry
Reply
John Binford
January 18, 2023 at 12:38 pm
Larry,
So sorry to hear of Tirzah’s passing. Your tribute was eloquent and moving. I’m glad you had so many wonderful years together but I know you wanted many more. Cherish your memories. Peace be with you, my friend.
– Johnny B
Reply
Lawrence Blackman
January 20, 2023 at 6:29 pm
John,
Sincere thanks for your kind words. It’s a rocky road through grief and the condolences of friends have provided healing sufficient to morph grief into gratitude.
I’ve felt so cut off from the world and even from humanity during this hard time. Your words and those of others here and elsewhere have helped me to find the course back to life!
Sincere regards,
Larry
Reply
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Tirzah Ann Blackman
, on the Painful Transition from Grief to Gratitude
Dearest Precious Tirzah, Erda-Lou, Natasha, Buttercup, Bootsie, Best Friend, Loving Wife,
Our relationship started at a ballet barre and grew into a beautiful marriage of more than 35 years. I remember your effervescent smile during class as we clowned around, and that very high-spirited feeling has remained. In our later years, we kept romance alive by special artistic surprises, daytime dates, classical concert nights on the town, and spectacular debates during long hours at bookstore cafes. Your strength and courage were inspiring to me as you prevailed over chronic disease and injury, maintaining the delightful mischievousness of that first day. Your smile could light up any power outage, and heal any pain. I am proud to have been with you throughout all of our years together, during which we seemingly ascended to new heights of appreciation of the fine arts, both musical and visual. I never knew how close we were to the finale’, during our romantic time in Grand Rapids, with my gleefully pushing your wheelchair through the bookstore as I warned you to prepare for the jump to hyperspace.
That night and the following morning, you faded so fast, with life departing hours after we shared a favorite meal, and suddenly your mellifluous voice was silenced. Your dulcet tones were soon replaced by the concerned calls for help and medical assistance. As the emergency first-responders did their best to revive you, and calm me, I stood rooted in disbelief and near catatonia. Somehow your energy persisted and provided the means to remain engaged as our world shifted uncontrollably on its axis. The frenetic life-saving activity grew and inexorably concluded without success, but somehow I sensed you were still there, a good and gentle guiding energy surviving the tumult.
Recalling the trauma is still almost too challenging to type as a tearful waterfall obscures my sight, and I find myself adrift on that sea of grief. In shock and battered by waves of both sadness and denial, I remembered how you laughed at my awful jokes and impressions. Even after your departure, your love has rescued me from the emotional abyss. The fog of despair has cleared exactly as on that early summer day when the newly emerged sun evaporated the tenacious marine-layer of clouds when we were married, outdoors in that Japanese garden in Long Beach. Thinking back on your playful angelic spirit, I feel an overwhelming gratitude for our beautiful life together, and for the many adventures we created together. Your encouragement and endless devotion to our efforts in the performing and visual arts, despite my consistent shortcomings and ego problems, was a hallmark of our creative life together. Even after your departure, your memory is the instrument of my healing, and enables the energy that permits me to reassemble the seemingly endless shards of our shattered life together, and eventually to make whole my broken heart.
As friends and neighbors gathered to provide comfort, they validated that feeling, and said to look for signs of her continuous presence. Long lost family and friends from far away echoed this, and before long, good things seemed to happen. Echoing footsteps, familiar creaks in the house, the dogs responding to her as they did before, and the local birds providing a backdrop as well, culminating in a large group of cardinals, which I’m told are special in these circumstances. A feeling of comfort ensued later, and I am grateful for your most welcome loving energy that allowed me to bring my music back to life. You have been a true gift from God, and I have always felt it.
I am grateful for all of the things we have done and accomplished together, and I know that you have been an angel sent from heaven, and perhaps the saints simply missed your playful creativity up there. These expressions of gratitude and remembering may somehow initiate my recovery, but I’m submerged too deep in grief over your loss to know for sure. Faith and the spirited interaction with the support of friends and family are the lifeline for each day as we travel farther down the timeline from this difficult parting. As the trauma fades, the memories of things we did together, enriching our lives by our mutual support, remains.
Sometimes, I find it helpful to think of life in four dimensions – the three spacial dimensions, plus time. Memories are the expression of this reality, and incorporating those, loved ones are always with us, living on at infinite time points along the way, enhancing the magic of life in this world. I am proud, humbled and honored to have shared the majority of our timelines here on Earth, and am forever grateful for you and your beautiful spiritual energy.
Our souls have been strongly bonded with our spirits flying as one, and this realization keeps my life on track. As Beethoven, and now I, would say, you are my immortal beloved. For this above all I am ever grateful.
Love, as always – my love goes with you, I miss you powerfully, you have been my everything,
Your Misha-Bob, Pookie, Enrico, Lorenzo, Best Friend, and, from Grief to Gratitude, Your Loving Husband, Larry
Offer Condolence for the family of A Tribute to Tirzah Ann Blackman
Condolence Messages
Dorethea Sparks
January 2, 2023 at 5:41 pm
I don’t know you , but after reading this beautiful rememberance of you’re wife, this was a True Love story that was never made into a movie. My heart hurts for you. I am so sorry for you’re loss.
Reply
Lawrence Blackman
January 8, 2023 at 11:24 am
Thank you for your moving words – the emotions come through with great vitality and have helped me along this jarring road! I am inspired and healed by what you related.
With gratitude and humility,
Sincerest regards,
Larry
Reply
Vicky A Morse
January 3, 2023 at 11:33 am
I wish I could have met your beautiful departed wife and life partner. I have been fortunate and that I still have mine with me and I cherish each day we have together as one. You have written a beautiful tribute of your life together on this earth. I can tell by your writing, the love you felt for each other and I am sure that she would want you to carry on and remember all the good that you had and still have. May Terzah rest in peace
Reply
Lawrence Blackman
January 8, 2023 at 11:31 am
Thank you for sharing your feelings and well wishes in your condolence. Through your words I can feel the support of our town/ community, and know that I don’t have to be alone during this painful and traumatic time. Further, I see to a great distance that healing and the retrieval of my life is possible and likely.
With great thanks for your kindness in writing to one who would otherwise pass as a stranger, I feel as a part of a larger family now.
Thank you and God bless you!
Sincerely,
Larry
Reply
Bobbie Vote
January 3, 2023 at 12:47 pm
Thank you for sharing this tribute. Writing can be so healing, and I hope you continue to use it as you go through this most painful season of life.
Reply
Lawrence Blackman
January 8, 2023 at 11:18 am
Thank you for the kindness of your words and gentle advice. The writing has been helpful, and the pain of this transition has been partly ameliorated by creating this tribute.
God bless and sincere regards,
Larry
Reply
Patricia Magdaleno
January 3, 2023 at 2:14 pm
Your Love together was truly Once in a Lifetime & Magical! A true gift ftom God, you’ll never be alone, Tirtzah will alwsys be watching over you. And so many love & wish you well. Love is forever. We send hugs, blessings & an friendly ear when you need it. God is with you & will guide you through this passage into the light of healing.
Reply
Pedro Aguilar
January 3, 2023 at 4:51 pm
WoW Lorenzo.
You have a way with words.
But I had never seen such of a poetic sunrise after the soul of the love of your life.
Is fulfilling for me to see how much love and how deep your relationship is…
Because is still there.
Even though her body stop breathing. You still carry her in your heart.
Now I would never forget my self for not meet the sunshine and star of your life.
Thank you my Bro for telling us how deep the words of love can go.
Reply
Joanne
January 5, 2023 at 3:22 pm
This was most heartfelt tribute I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading . Your passion and love for each other is illuminated in your words and the life you shared together. I’m truly sorry for the loss of you wife . Many people never find this kind of love in their lives . I pray your souls find each other again .
Peace be with you
Reply
Lawrence Blackman
January 8, 2023 at 11:04 am
Thank you for your kind words and sentiments. These messages of condolence and healing, even from people I have not had the privilege of meeting yet, are precious and I am honored by your writing.
Sincere regard and God bless,
Larry
Reply
Jerome Welnetz
January 9, 2023 at 10:30 am
We’ve never met. I came across this accidentally while looking through obituaries in my hometown. This is the most beautiful things I’ve ever read, she seemed like an amazing woman and it’s clear from what you wrote how deeply you loved her. I’m sorry for you loss.
Reply
Lawrence Blackman
January 14, 2023 at 3:35 pm
Hello Jerome,
Thank you for your kind words and generous compliments. I don’t really know about how the stages of grief are supposed to work, but it’s just been a great turbulence of emotions since Tirzah passed away. The good feelings in your words really cut through the despair.
Thank you for your writing!
Sincerely,
Larry
Reply
John Binford
January 18, 2023 at 12:38 pm
Larry,
So sorry to hear of Tirzah’s passing. Your tribute was eloquent and moving. I’m glad you had so many wonderful years together but I know you wanted many more. Cherish your memories. Peace be with you, my friend.
– Johnny B
Reply
Lawrence Blackman
January 20, 2023 at 6:29 pm
John,
Sincere thanks for your kind words. It’s a rocky road through grief and the condolences of friends have provided healing sufficient to morph grief into gratitude.
I’ve felt so cut off from the world and even from humanity during this hard time. Your words and those of others here and elsewhere have helped me to find the course back to life!
Sincere regards,
Larry
Reply
Leave a Condolence
Cancel reply
Please share your message of condolence with the family, It will be visible to the public but your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked
*
Comment
*
Name
*
*
Δ
Obituary Notification Service
Enter your email address if you would like to be notified when a new obituary notice is posted:
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How do I send a condolence
At the bottom of this page, you will find a condolence form. You will need to fill out some basic information prior to typing your message. (We will not share your e-mail address with anyone) Once you are finished, simply click the submit condolence button. The condolence will be approved before it is published to the web site.
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