Dealing with death

Three things caused me to see the world differently. 

First, my granddaughter died in my arms one afternoon.
She wasn’t much more than a day old.
Secondly, I sat with my father telling me as he died,
“its all about love, thats all there is”.
He was truly one of my heroes.
And thirdly, late one night, I sat with my son
and held his hand as he died.  
 
So I started spending more time sitting with God, without doing much talking, just trying to take it all in. 
 
After my granddaughter passed away, I wrote a poem;
a snapshot of the state of things as it were,
for those who were always asking how I was doing. 
After the death of my dad, I wrote an organ prelude for his funeral
because I didn’t have the words but wanted to somehow capture
that goodbye from him.
After my son died, I wrestled with God for years
writing down my observations as I went along. Eventually
they resulted in the book, “The Unwanted Blessing”,
for those who find themselves in similar situations
and just need to sit a while.
 
What has made the most difference for me in all of these things, are the people who have offered their presence. I am truly grateful for friends who will give of their time and themselves to just be there.
 
 

2 thoughts on “Dealing with death

  1. Thanks for sharing . This is what I am doing in NYC just sitting with it. Faith, meditation, hanging with my children the in between place. face timing with Russell 🙂

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