Thursday was my youngest grandson’s birthday. He turned 7. Today, on Easter Sunday, we gathered to watch him blow out candles and we sang happy songs. We looked at photos of his first birthday. We played games and searched for Easter eggs. We celebrated and remembered what it was like when it was his time to be born.
Today, my 3-year-old granddaughter ran to get hugs from her Grandma and Grandpa. She opened the Easter basket her Grandma made for her and giggled at the toys inside. I picked her up high above my head and then held her close. And we spun around and celebrated a time to dance.
Yesterday we spoke with my dear sister-in-law Terry. Her husband, my brother Ray, lies in a bed in the middle of their living room. The hospice nurses come everyday now to bathe him, adjust his pain medication, and most of all guide Terry and him through the process of his body surely and slowly shutting down. Soon it will be his time to die.
Terry sits by his bedside and talks to him, even though she doesn’t know if he hears her. His dementia has advanced so much she doesn’t know if he would understand even if he did hear. Still, she talks to him because it is a time to speak from her heart. She cries because it is a time to weep.
We all knew this time was coming. That doesn’t make it any easier for his wife of 45 years or his children who struggle to understand why their father is suffering. It doesn’t make it any easier for his two sisters who have known him their entire lifetimes. Or for his little brother who remembers the times we laughed together and who searched for and found the guidance in a big brother’s words.
There is a season for everything under heaven. In this one holy week, we have celebrated births. We have danced. We have listened in silence. We have spoken words of love. We have cried. We have laughed. We have learned from past experience that there will be a time to let go – soon.
Then we will mourn.
And the seasons will change. And there will again be a time for everything under heaven.
Inescapable truths. ❤️
Knowing that it’s the circle of life doesn’t make it any easier to let go. I remember and embrace the joyful moments that make the goodbyes harder. Love you, bro
Yes, there is a time for everything but some of those times it seems that we are not ready for them. They hurt beyond words. And then we remember the good times. The good memories float through the fog of pain like a soothing balm and for that brief instant our heart smiles. May you find the smiles to comfort you.
Beautiful!
As we sometimes look for words to say. Just being there is sometimes just what we need with no words at all. Terry and Ray have been a great example of what Love should be like.
I Love you guys.
The love of an era