There's been a fair share of deaths of friends and family members this year. In the face of these deaths, I've found myself thinking about the many ways I've met death throughout my life.
My first experience with death was when my grandfather, Papa, died. I was six years old. I was standing next to the dining room table when my mother took the call. She immediately started crying, and I asked, "What's wrong, Mom."
She said, "Your grandfather died." I started crying. I was sad, but the sadness was short lived as I returned to my six-year old world filled with playing with siblings, kindergarten, and lots of other activities.
One of the next deaths was my cousin's young child. That was very, very sad. I loved my cousin very much and always enjoyed her lively, loving ways. When she suddenly and surprisingly lost her first child, the whole family was very, very sad. In that same time frame, we lost my Uncle Paul. He died of a brain tumor--his illness was grueling, painful, and long. We all felt for his young family. I will never forget the tremendous grief at his funeral--a ceremony that filled Our Lady of the Angels church in Worcester. And not long after, another cousin lost her young daughter after a valiant battle with cancer. That too was very, very sad. During all of these deaths, I was a busy young person anguishing about all kinds of events, relationships, and efforts that young people anguish about and enjoy too--and at every one of these deaths, our big, loving family came together to celebrate these lives and comfort those who lost their father, husband, brother, son, daughter, friend.
Later we lost my grandparents, uncles, aunts, in-laws, and one cousin too. With the exception of my cousin whose life was cut too short, the rest lived long happy lives and left many, many loved ones behind. We loved them so much and were sad to see them leave us, but again we came together to celebrate their lives and comfort one another.
Since, friends and relatives have lost loved ones too. Then this year, there have been several close losses including my brother, Uncle Dick, Uncle Bob and a college classmate too. Children at school have experienced losses too--losses that have come too soon for the young children I teach.
At this stage, I am so grateful for the big family I have--a big family of people who come together during these sad times to support one another. Death is the cruel reality of life--our lives are short, and when we lose loved ones we are reminded of how precious each day is.
I am fortunate to be surrounded by lots of happy, spirited lives every day since I teach young children and they are rarely without spunk and enthusiasm--it's most often a joyous job. With every year of life our perspectives change on how we deal with the issues that affect us, and death is an issue that we all face and each time someone we love dies, we see death a little bit differently than the time before. What stays constant however is our ability to convene and comfort one another. That gives us the strength to move ahead living each day as well as we can.
My first experience with death was when my grandfather, Papa, died. I was six years old. I was standing next to the dining room table when my mother took the call. She immediately started crying, and I asked, "What's wrong, Mom."
She said, "Your grandfather died." I started crying. I was sad, but the sadness was short lived as I returned to my six-year old world filled with playing with siblings, kindergarten, and lots of other activities.
One of the next deaths was my cousin's young child. That was very, very sad. I loved my cousin very much and always enjoyed her lively, loving ways. When she suddenly and surprisingly lost her first child, the whole family was very, very sad. In that same time frame, we lost my Uncle Paul. He died of a brain tumor--his illness was grueling, painful, and long. We all felt for his young family. I will never forget the tremendous grief at his funeral--a ceremony that filled Our Lady of the Angels church in Worcester. And not long after, another cousin lost her young daughter after a valiant battle with cancer. That too was very, very sad. During all of these deaths, I was a busy young person anguishing about all kinds of events, relationships, and efforts that young people anguish about and enjoy too--and at every one of these deaths, our big, loving family came together to celebrate these lives and comfort those who lost their father, husband, brother, son, daughter, friend.
Later we lost my grandparents, uncles, aunts, in-laws, and one cousin too. With the exception of my cousin whose life was cut too short, the rest lived long happy lives and left many, many loved ones behind. We loved them so much and were sad to see them leave us, but again we came together to celebrate their lives and comfort one another.
Since, friends and relatives have lost loved ones too. Then this year, there have been several close losses including my brother, Uncle Dick, Uncle Bob and a college classmate too. Children at school have experienced losses too--losses that have come too soon for the young children I teach.
At this stage, I am so grateful for the big family I have--a big family of people who come together during these sad times to support one another. Death is the cruel reality of life--our lives are short, and when we lose loved ones we are reminded of how precious each day is.
I am fortunate to be surrounded by lots of happy, spirited lives every day since I teach young children and they are rarely without spunk and enthusiasm--it's most often a joyous job. With every year of life our perspectives change on how we deal with the issues that affect us, and death is an issue that we all face and each time someone we love dies, we see death a little bit differently than the time before. What stays constant however is our ability to convene and comfort one another. That gives us the strength to move ahead living each day as well as we can.