Dear friends,
Sometimes life throws you a curveball. That can even happen when you least expect it and at the worst possible time. In my case, I had left home to accompany my wife on a conference and on the first day of our trip we were planning to celebrate the publication of my book and my birthday when I was informed that my mother had died.
We had to leave in a hurry and we are now planning to fly to Europe to organize my mother’s funeral and deal with all the issues. We have to renew my wife’s passport and we hope to get tickets for this week-end or early next week at the latest. Then we will be gone for a week or so.
Right now, I feel like a person who has been sucker-punched and who is trying really hard to stay on his feet. There is no way can work on the blog for the next week or two so I have asked my Director of Research and my Webmaster to run a “minimal blog” has best they can while I am away: they will post SITREPs when they get them, I might forward them articles, I might even write a short commentary if I find the energy do so, and I will encourage them to leave “open threads” for you – the community – to meet and discuss issues.
In practical terms, this means that the blog is now temporarily “frozen”. We will try to update it as best we can, but this will be minimal at best.
Second, please do not email me. I simply do not have the energy to respond.
I am very sorry for this mess and I will try to get things back to normal as soon as I can. I ask for your patience and understanding. God willing, the blog will return to normal in about 2 weeks.
Hugs and thanks to all,
The Saker
My deepest condolences Saker, may God’s supernatural peace be on you, your house and your family heavy these days.
safe journey…………………….fly aeroflot?
Sorry about your mother Saker.
You should have a break.
With love.
Mark.
My condolences, Saker. Мир на праха и.
My sincere condolences for your most personal loss. There is no one else so important than our mother. She gives us our being, our existence.
May your pain and loss be felt as a sign that you were loved and cared for like no other.
I have been an active reader here for quite some time. Reading about the military exploits and manoeuvres often insulates us from our feelings. We have our hopes and aspirations for a certain future. Some try to block that future leading to bloody and deadly conflicts. Behind each death is a mother who gave life to that person be they friend or foe today.
It is in these moments we can truly appreciate the value of diplomacy and its successes when death is held at bay.
If only people everywhere understood such simple truths, the world would be a fat better place…
Bless you, Kind Sir.
To our host, “The Saker”:
My deepest Condolences…
I am so very sorry to hear this news.
And I know, beyond the mourning, how complicated things are when a parent dies.
I feel sure that you will summon the fortitude you will need to deal with all that stands before you.
Katherine
Dear The Saker,
So sorry to hear your sad news. Condolences to you and your family. Take care and we look forward to seeing you back here in a couple of weeks – take as much time as you need.
Rgds,
Veritas
You have my sympathies. This is a time of both grief and reflection, as well as no small bit of tension and aggravation in dealing with the practical matters. Take good care of yourself, and work through it in your own time.
Condoleances.
Franzouskii grajdanin jivaouivchii v Singapoure
I’m with you in heart and spirit, Saker. God bless you all.
Love,
Teresa
Deepest condolences
Saker
It’s very sad your mom has passed. That is never easy for the survivors. I hope your trip to Europe goes well and you can achieve some kind of closure with the funeral and the sadness and emptiness passes soon.
Take care
May the memory of your mother’s love sustain you now and always and may you gain strength from family and faith especially in the days to come.
A beautiful expression of my prayer for you, Saker, and your family.
Dear Saker,
Condolences on your loss, its one of the deepest cuts any human has to suffer, I went through it myself earlier this year.
I wish you all the strength in the world to get through it.
God bless.
So sorry for this tragic loss. We all wish you the best during this sad time.
Mother is a closest being on Earth. My sincere condolences, Saker.
Can say no better.
A sad time.
All the best Saker
My sincere condolences for your loss.
My deepest sorrow for your loss, Saker
Condolences :-(
My most sincere condolences.
In my culture we consider death as a moving. We say that the deceased „moved“ to the other place, and that we will meet again.
It is special with mothers. They are the persons who have paradise under their feet. The only true friends. The givers that we can never, ever repay, no matter what we do. When they move, halfpart of us moves with them.
Saker, I wish you peace in your heart and mind, full with beutifull memories of your mother.
Salam boris,
boris quote: It is special with mothers. They are the persons who have paradise under their feet.
How true, mothers having paradise under their feet!
Best regards,
Mohamed.
Wa aleykumusselam, Mohamed. The most beautiful male name. I hope that you strive to walk the same path that the first person who ever got that name walked, peace and blessings of Allah Allmighty be upon him.
dear saker,
my sincere condoleances. i wish you light in these dark days.
marco
Она је у истини, а ми, још увек, у лажи.
Блажени мир и вечни помен од Бога молим за душу Ваше мајке.
Искрено саучешће.
Salam Saker,
She is now looking down from Heaven with a smile saying, “son don’t worry, I had a pleasant life, keep up the good work”.
We belong to God, and to Him we shall return.
إنا لله وإنا إليه راجعون
Amen,
Mohamed.
“We belong to God and we return to him”… so true !
My sincere condolence are with you Saker. May God give you the strength to overcome this.
Niraj.
Mohamed,
Beautiful words yours- “We belong to God, and to Him we shall return”.
Beautiful sentiments yours, to give to our dear friend Saker .
Though I am a Christian, I have always found a special warmth of humanity towards others in Muslims.
Salam Paz Peace
Carmel by the Sea
My deepest condolences Saker,
So sad for you and family. My condolences.
My sincere condolences for you and your family.
.
Bad news. Please accept my deepest sympathy for your loss.
I am very sorry to hear about your loss, Saker. Please take all the time you need to look after your family. They come first.
I rarely comment here, but you have my condolences. Don’t worry about the blog, this is not the time, we can all understand and we’ll wait. Take care.
I’m so sorry for your tragic loss! This are indeed dark times, I really wish you the very best!
Very sorry for your loss – life to you and your wife and family, and life eternal to your mother.
Our condolences and our support in this time of sorrow !
My heart goes out to you and your family, I hope you will find strength in each others company.
Mac
My condolences, Saker, to you and your family in your time of mourning.
Please accept my condolences and prayers.
Deepest condolences to you and your family Saker. Try to take some time to rest.
Condolences. Always a grim, emotional time. You always think that you could have been there more often.
For someone like myself that prefers to think in rational, logical, and ethical and moral terms. things like this grounds you. Empathy for others is majorly important, and that is what makes you human.
Everyone dies though, that’s called evolution. We all have our time, it’s what we do with it that makes us.
Respect.
Our deepest condolences to you and your family in this time of sorrow, Saker. May she rest in peace.
Kindest regards
Auslander and family
My sincere condolences for you and your family.
“I am very sorry for this mess…”
No need to apologize. We owe you so much. My sincere condolences.
Please keep this in mind. The Japanese ask when someone dies “How did he/she live”. The answer to that question will give you the strength to get trough troubled times, like this one.
Take care AND DO NOT HURRY back. Emotions are not to be dealt with lightly.
My deepest condolences Saker.
My condolences to you and your family.
Dear Saker, my heartfelt condolences on your loss. I wish you strength to get you through the stressful times ahead. Take all the time you need. We – all of your fellow submariners – will be waiting patiently for your return.
May Allah bless your mother and your family, brother Saker.
Hope you feel better soon.
Sorry to hear about your loss, Saker. I know it sounds empty and hollow but time will heal.
Take your time and step back in the blogging once you feel you can do it. We’ll be here waiting.
Бог ты мой, какой удар.
Крепитесь, Saker
Saker & Family:
Condolences on the loss of your Mother. May she rest in Peace!
Peter J. Antonsen
Dear Saker, so sorry to hear of the passing of your mom. Please know that your entire community of followers feels your sadness and you and your family are in our prayers. I hope you take as much time as you need to grieve, adjust, remember and think of all the special things your mom was to you. And please know we will be ok without you, so dont worry about us, just take care of yourself and your family. And also know that we love you. Your heart is huge, this i know, this we know. It is filled with sadness right now, that is as it should be. You have done so much for us, i so wish we could do for you at this time. Hugs and more hugs.
Dear Saker,
Please accept my sincere condolences on the passing of your beloved Mother.
“Упокой, Господи, душу рабы Твоей новопреставленной, и прости ей вся согрешения ея вольная и невольная и даруй ей Царствие Небесное”.
With love,
Marina
Пусть земля будет ей пухом. Мои глубочайшие соболезнования.
We need you, Saker, and will wait for you to come back.
Dear Saker,
Love be upon your mother, you, your family, friends, acquaintances and the whole vineyard community.
In my experience, death is a trial and a grace. I was with both my parents when they died in their mid-fifties and handled most of the after-death arrangements.
Please forgive me for sharing my own happenings at a time when you are so overwhelmed by your own.
I woke up this morning with an unexpected event. Last night I had decided not to continue to read war reports and blogging due to two days of indigestion and not eating.
But just as the sun was rising which I could see from my outdoor bed, the memory of what I recently read in Count Tolstoy’s War and Peace came to mind like a message.
Early in the war against Napoleon the Russian army was outnumbered 150,000 to 40,000. It looked like the Russians would be overrun. The general sent an order to withdraw the heavy guns from the center. The order did not arrive because the messenger was afraid to go through the heavy fire. One particular gunner got carried away as if in a frenzy or trance, rapidly firing the guns as quickly as he could.
Because of all this fire from the center, the French assumed that’s where the Russians were concentrated and drew their own forces to the center and away from the flanking positions that were about to overrun the Russians. At the end of the day, the worn-down Russian army succeeded in stopping the French and gained the time to link up with another Russian army.
Later that night in the generals’ tent, the general criticized the gunner for not pulling his guns out and losing two of them. However, an adjutant who also had been sent to that area and was helping with the guns, was in the tent with his general. This man, who was one of the protagonists in War and Peace, against protocol in the presence of the high ranked officers said that if it had not been for the actions of that gunner the Russians would likely have not achieved the victory they did, and walked out. The gunner thanked him outside for saving him.
In sharing this I am doing the unexpected and acting against the protocol of a family death where all attention is focused on the grievers. I am also going against my own reservations and possibly my health. Yet some unexpected force connected to the life and death event forces my hand.
And here’s the point that sticks. In all this war and all these deaths of mothers and their children what am I to do? How can I put more weight on the peace side of the War and Peace scale?
It seems foolish, unexpected and against protocol, but my whole life, against resistance of all kinds, is pushing me to the center-point of love as an idea supported by relevant actions. Into the fire and fury of war and death I send thoughts and actions of love. These are not prayers of supplication; I know what those are and their effects, having been a priest in traditional and new-age religions. This is something different and unexpected.
We all have different thoughts and actions and these are to be respected in their unique qualities. But I have come to believe that something more is needed which I recently shared with South Front and they with me. It also has something to do with this vineyard.
I fear that I am speaking out of turn and am feeling the twinges of guilt that urge silence. I return to the event at hand. I mourn a mother’s death whether due to war or not, whether to a broken heart or not. None of us know for sure but we do have our own unexpected events, sometimes referred to as black swans or divine interventions.
Deepest condolences dear Saker, take care and God bless.
My deepest sympathies. My own mother passed away suddenly a few weeks ago, so I know exactly how you feel. It hurts like hell.
My condolences. God relieve your pain and your grief!
I’m so sorry to read of the loss of your Mother.The loss of a parent is a nightmare to a child.It cuts a person off from their past.I’ve loss both my parents and know that pain.My deepest condolences to you and your family.All I can say,is that the memories of her will never leave you.And your faith, and her memory will always be a comfort to you.
Our thoughts and prayer are with you, Saker, and your family.
condolences. may your journey be swift and without hindrance. bless you and yours.
I’m sorry for your loss, Saker. Safe travel to Europe,
Zuzim
Please accept my deepest condolences Saker.
Memory eternal.
Dear Saker’s friends.
The Saker’s book has just become the #1 bestseller in Globalization & Politics on Amazon!
http://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Books-Globalization-Politics/zgbs/books/3049191/ref=zg_bsnr_tab_t_bs
No need to explain that the Essential Saker being a bestseller means huge victory of all good people over the US and EU governments and NATO narrations propagated by corporate Media.
It’s yours pronounced victory of good will over evil imposed on us by the Hegemon.
Congratulations!
Thank you all for support!
My utmost sympathy for you and your family, Saker.
I think I can speak for most, if not all, on here when I say we are with you in both heart and spirit.
Sanctuary
Dear Saker!
I am so sorry to hear the sad news!
My sincere condolences to you and your family!
Take your time to be with your loved ones!
May the Lord be with all of you!
Сил, Мужества и Терпения!
It’s awful when bad things happen, they all seem to happen at the same time [I‘ve lived through this sinister ‘movie’ several times in my life already, it does wear you down over time]. I’m, myself, facing rather severe personal problems, and this is on top of two close relatives falling seriously ill very recently.
Deepest of sympathies, to you, your wife and your family.
I am very sorry!
But you will find her in your Spirit, and see her, talk and be talked to. Different kind of communication, but better, without the obstacles of the flesh. My prayers to you and your family.
Saker,
condolences to you and your family.
My most sincere condolences.
Peter – New Zealand
Dear God No!
Deepest Condolences to You and your family.
Everything else is trivial – Take care of your family.
My deepest condolences. Take Care.
Saker, my deepest sympathy at your loss.
Mes plus sincères condoléances, je prie pour votre mère, pour vous et votre famille.
My sincere condolences for your most personal loss. Have a save trip and take as much time of as you need.
My sincere condolence.
Прими моје искрено саучешће.