Thursday, September 3, 2009
Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009 - 7:30 pm
Ann and I are sitting across the table from each other. I'm amazed at how little flavor food has when one has been crying for 20 minutes straight. She'd made a delicious beef stew several days before and we are having leftovers. Even after several shakes of Tabasco sauce, it tastes like warmed-up cardboard with extra carrots. I'm somewhat stunned at the intensity of my own reaction. People I don't know die all the time. I know nothing about him, not even his real name. I don't know where he lived, what he looked like, whether he had a family. I never met him. All I know is that he was in his sixties and that he died after his disease relapsed. And yet I am mourning his passing. I wonder if these extra four months gave him time to meet a new grandchild or to make it through another birthday. Or maybe he was just sick the whole time and the treatment prolonged the suffering. It's startling how much I am struggling over the what-ifs and unknowns, and I wonder if I'll ever know more than I do now.
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2 comments:
You were able to give him a gift that very few, if any, other people could give him. Whether or not you "knew" each other doesn't matter - you were connected. You helped give him life - a life that he wanted more of - a precious gift to him and to his loved ones. That is pretty amazing.
It's okay to be sad, but I hope you find peace in the fact that HE had more time to make peace with himself.
I believe that God's greatest gifts and blessings are the relationships He presents us with in so many ways. God gave you an opportunity to serve by assisting with the treatment of someone, placing you in a position to form a unique relationship. You may never know just how or why God gave the two of you that relationship, but I am sure that God used it and is using it to bless the both of you and your families. And what a wonderful testimony for all of us to be sensitive at all times for the unique opportunities that God presents to each of us.
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