This week cancer took away a friend of mine. As I get older I am finding the nature of grief and sadness over death is beginning to change. Maybe it is because with each year that passes as a human it becomes more impossible to deny that life always comes to an end. Or perhaps I have learned from experience that the world will continue and I can adapt. Death is no longer a jarring incongruous interruption. It is part of the experience of life. And as with all the experiences of life, you choose what you take with you.
I will take with me these things that my friend taught me. She taught me that true kindness is easy to give. Her time with me was filled with gentle personal encouragement, cups of tea and shared reflections about life yet to come. She taught me how to continue to age gracefully. I saw her build a full life after becoming a widow, never lose her love of learning and actively enjoy nature and the beauty of the world. She taught me how to be a better person. And I am thankful.
Yes, my friend died this week. But she gave me many things that will cause me to remember her. The physical presence is gone but the good she did in me remains. It is silently added to my storehouse of what I choose to take with me. And I promise to use it well.
I will take with me these things that my friend taught me. She taught me that true kindness is easy to give. Her time with me was filled with gentle personal encouragement, cups of tea and shared reflections about life yet to come. She taught me how to continue to age gracefully. I saw her build a full life after becoming a widow, never lose her love of learning and actively enjoy nature and the beauty of the world. She taught me how to be a better person. And I am thankful.
Yes, my friend died this week. But she gave me many things that will cause me to remember her. The physical presence is gone but the good she did in me remains. It is silently added to my storehouse of what I choose to take with me. And I promise to use it well.
RSS Feed