Loss..

The last fortnight has been one when I have reflected very deeply on loss. The trigger was the passing of two people in my extended family..a great grand-aunt who was past 100 years in age and my husband's youngest uncle, who had lived "three score years and ten"(70).

I was struck by the vastly different nature of the two passings.

The former was a death that had been expected for a while, and one that had clocked too many years of suffering on the person as well as her family, who had watched her waste away from old age. She was a remarkable alert mind in an aged and decaying body..what cruel punishment for her. Most of us remarked when she passed that she had been freed of further suffering and had moved to better places.

The latter was a study in how evanescent life is, and can be. My husband's uncle was a dynamic and cheerful man, full of life and laughter. A week's illness took him from us, and the whole family is still having a hard time coping with the loss.

It must be hard to walk back into a room after a person has passed and see everything as it was before, but missing a person to touch the room with their presence. It must be hard to think of something one wants to share or seek advice on to figure out that the person with whom the conversation will take place is in another dimension..it is hardest for those who are left behind, especially if we have no time to prepare for the loss.

Loss brings hoe to us how much we are blessed with and never think of. Loss makes us humble and makes us turn ourselves to higher powers...to seek answers, and solace and strength. Loss therefore is a necessary part of living a full life. May one find it within to cope with dignity and balance and eventually move to peace..May God protect us all in His compassionate face.