Yahrtzeit For My Daughter Sarah April 4, 2026 by Merle Heidi Molofsky
Today is the first Yahrzeit for my precious daughter Sarah, And I recited the mourner’s Kaddish for her. She died a year ago, a month before her 59th birthday. She knew she was dying, we knew she was dying, We celebrated her life with her at a gathering at her home. Celebrating her life was joyous, losing her was grievous.
Sarah, my precious child,
I knew you
in utero,
your elbows and knees,
a mix
of your kicks,
and treasured each,
cupping my hands
over your exuberant limbs
within me.
You were the youngest
of my three children,
and we cherished you
as you grew,
as you strived to be
like your sister and brother.
And though they babied you,
they loved to tease,
and you aimed to please.
You were the littlest one,
responsible and kind.
You walked your friend
to school, because he was timid,
and you didn’t mind,
because he needed you.
You could find
strength to walk together,
accepting that as children
you were birds of a feather,
flying amiably to class,
to learn, to cherish books,
to read and write.
So many many years,
a treasury of memories.
It is a luxury
to remember you,
as we sing a threnody
honoring your eternal light.
Sarah, when you were grown,
living alone,
you would call me on the phone
and say, “Hi, Mama, it’s Sarah,
your littlest one”.
You always were my littlest one,
and always will be adored and cherished,
Alas, my littlest one perished
before me. Yet I, and others,
keep your memory alive.
Today I recited the Mourner’s Kaddish
in Aramaic, and read to myself
the English translation.
The words I write this moment, now,
are my sanctification,
affirming Life, Sarah’s Life….