Not real sure where I copied this from, but I do know I was with Hospice at the time, so pretty sure that is where it comes from. The point is that it hits the nail right on the head. I have lost a lot of dear friends, family, acquaintances, pets, a few enemies and the list goes on and on, in my life as I am sure it does in yours.
I recall an advertisement on television where an older woman is in the bathroom preparing for bed and she is talking to someone, I assume was her husband, off camera. She lays down her hairbrush and turns out the light and the camera pans to an empty bed. I did not understand that as much then as when it happened to me. The realization came to me just a few days after my husband passed. I was devastated, but then life does go on. There is no do overs when death comes knocking, but we are given no choice but to go on putting one foot in front of the other and living one day after another.
It does become bearable after a time, but the one we lost will never be replaced. I think about my mother every day. I miss Shirley. I miss my sisters and my brother and all the aunts and uncles. The first actual death I recall was my calf, Dennis. Then it was my nephew that was born at home. Then it was grandma Haas. I am sure there were others before, and I can not remember all that have gone since and still continue the march to the grave. But this gives me solace. This and the one about the departed being a ship sailing off across the ocean. It is leaving the shore where people are weeping and it grows smaller and smaller until it is gone, but on the other side of the ocean, it is arriving and the people are cheering as it draws nearer!
I do hope something I have written today in my own rambling little way gives someone an ounce of peace and acceptance. And some day, when I make that journey, and you learn of my passing, know that I am happy and think of me with just a touch of sadness and a whole lot of joy!
Until then, may the peace that passes all understanding be with you all.
