P.S. (Remember...this is coming from an extreme introvert who panics around people, dreads personal phone calls, and needs time to respond to simple text messages. So...in case I don't say it enough or do not get another chance, if my spouse, kids, grandkids, brothers, sisters, or close friends are reading this--I love you.)
There are seasons in life where grief comes unwanted, unexpected loss overwhelming our ability to cope and process, a brutal reminder we are all just one breath away…
Shock gradually giving way to a new reality; two former students of mine passing away, one from an overdose, the other from suicide; followed by the loss of a dear friend (like a brother), a shock to all who saw him enjoying retirement; finally, my soon-to-turn 100-year-old mother, suffering through a fall and subsequent hospice care before she breathed her last.
We grieve, process, and say goodbye, finding solace in family, friends, and faith, mourning being humanly bound to this earth but comforted in believing we will meet again in an eternity of joy. For many of us, the passage of time ushers in regret and if only’s. Realization dawning, sadly knowing that there is no more time to reconnect. Victimized by the tyranny of the urgent, busyness, and exhaustion overriding our ability to act on a whim, to reach out spontaneously, to let someone know you’re thinking about them.
Compelling me to put this in writing for it is a lesson I most need to learn. Reach out and connect, in some way, to those you love. For what is left unsaid is every bit as tragic as the loss itself, a gapping wound no amount of time, thought or prayer can ever truly suture and make right.