Unexpected

“It is a curious thing, the death of a loved one. We all know that our time in this world is limited, and that eventually all of us will end up underneath some sheet, never to wake up. And yet it is always a surprise when it happens to someone we know. It is like walking up the stairs to your bedroom in the dark, and thinking there is one more stair than there is. Your foot falls down, through the air, and there is a sickly moment of dark surprise as you try and readjust the way you thought of things.”
― Lemony Snicket, Horseradish: Bitter Truths You Can’t Avoid

This has been a year of unexpected loss for so many people. From terror attacks to natural disasters, we’ve all witnessed tragedy.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve seen loss from a closer vantage point. I understand it’s part of getting older. Several of my friends have lost loved ones. Some after months of battling cancer to others suffering losses after tragic accidents. Prepared or not, death finds unexpected ways to surprise you. Whether it’s guilt for not being there enough to receiving a card mailed to you before the accident occurred, the pain is intense. An ache that smolders, erupting into a full blaze when least expected.

I firmly believe we are here to help each other. It is by living through our own losses that give us the knowledge and insight allowing us to help on a level only those who have walked that path can. It is the ultimate initiation process. By reaching out to help, opening our hearts and sharing of ourselves, some of our own agonies ease and fade. It’s what it’s all about–caring for one another.

“From the standpoint of daily life, however, there is one thing we do know: that we are here for the sake of each other – above all for those upon whose smile and well-being our own happiness depends, and also for the countless unknown souls with whose fate we are connected by a bond of sympathy. Many times a day I realize how much my own outer and inner life is built upon the labors of my fellow men, both living and dead, and how earnestly I must exert myself in order to give in return as much as I have received.”
― Albert Einstein

I am…

B…simply being…

May God bless us all with patience, kindness, and understanding.

Peace