Natasha Serlin

It was at this point that memories of special moments with my beloved came flooding back.

And as we walk up the mountain this morning, I'm remembering him and how he was so good and so kind and took everything on to ease everyone else's burdens.

And I'm remembering being in the forest with him.

Noticing everything, like it was in technicolor.

The trees, the colors, the sounds.

Now we talked about it as I'm practicing it this morning, walking up the mountain.

I feel such an intense wave missing it.

And I guess this is part of the magic of the pilgrimage, having

the space to let these memories emerge and be held and treasured and released, released to the rose, no less treasured, but not carrying them as burdens, leaving a felt resonance, an imprint of joy, not grief.

of the mountain walking to the Ascension Chapel very rocky on the precipice it's like being on top of the world standing here I could feel her presence resonating through the centuries no longer buried but here to be experienced and made tangible

This was built in the 1800s.

I think there's a mark somewhere down there, and this was built to mark her spot of ascension.

You can step inside.

You can leave your stuff outside.

And if somebody wants to be in charge to anoint everybody, just...

At the chapel marking the point where Mary Magdalene was said to have ascended seven times a day, I had the ritual that I didn't even realize I needed.

I lit a candle and stood before the altar.

And for the first time, I felt as though I could honor what I had lost without being consumed by it.

I still have grief, but I no longer feel as though I'm living inside it.

And the idea of a love beyond death, which drew me here in the first place, I understand it more completely now.