Love is so many things: it makes us feel all tingly, it can makes us do things we never dreamed we would or could, it can help us overcome major obstacles, it sees beyond the surface and understands the heart. But love also can cause pain and suffering, we can suffer from a broken heart, we can feel betrayed by it, and so on. We can probably continue to list the pros and cons of love.
So many people will look at love and wonder why would I want to risk all the pain, all the hurt, the rejection, why fall in love. Yet it is love that has brought so many of us into this life. Even if your birth was not a direct result of two people falling in love, you are still someone who was and is loved. Whether you were raised by your biological parents, foster parents, adoptive parents or even grandparents, somewhere along the way you felt love. At least that is my prayer for you, that love has touched you in some way.
Today as I thought about my classes and my assignments, I also thought about a comment that was made. The question was asked if you could go back and change the outcome of your life, would you? For the most part, the comments were mainly no. I thought about this and I know that I would not change too much if any at all. I have been blessed with a wonderful husband, three beautiful children, and now a terrific son-in-law and the newest joy in our lives, my grandchild. If I could stop my daughter from dying, you bet I would try, but then I wonder what would I miss out on, would things be better or worse.
Earlier today I read a status posting on Facebook, in the "What's on your mind? section, someone wrote simply 'Everything happens for a reason.' Yes the statement is so very true, but it is the reason that eludes us, the whys and how comes are left blank. It made me think even more about Rachel, and what could possibly be the reason for her untimely death. As I pondered on this a while, I started thinking about all the things that Rachel accomplished in life and more especially what she managed to accomplish through her death.
The news of her accident, brought family and friends together as they prayed, comforted us and each other, and just stayed by our sides throughout the waiting. After Rachel was pronounced clinically dead, her organs were donated, she had made a point in life of letting us know she wanted to be an organ donor. Early the next morning we were told that she had made a difference in the lives of three people, helping them live healthier lives. At her wake and funeral, she managed to bring together people of every race, creed, color, religion, etc., from various parts of the US, Canada and Europe. I am still amazed at all that transpired over the first few days and weeks.
Then I realized it was love that had allowed all this to happen. Her love of people, new experiences and her caring, loving attitude to doing what she could to help others, even if it put her in harms way, had an impact on so many. She managed to touch so many lives in so many ways, she loved fully, unconditionally, and gave of herself completely.
So would I change anything, NO!, because I wouldn't want to miss a moment of the love. There is a beautiful quote that I am sure you have all heard, 'better to have loved and lost, then never to have loved at all,' by Alfred Lord Tennyson, from his poem In Memoriam:27, 1850. The words speak for themselves, there is no double meaning, they mean what they say and they say what they mean.
Know that you are that much richer for having known your loved one, for having had them in your life, even for a short while. Would any of us give anything for just a few more moments with them , of course we would. But yet they have never really left us, they are always in our hearts, they a where ever we are. They are the wind, the rain, a strangers smile, a warm hug, the laughter and the gentle cry of a new born baby. Our loved ones are all around us, we just have to quiet ourselves and just listen. We need to be still and allow ourselves to feel the love, allow it to surround us, take hold of us. Our loved one may not be visible to our eyes, but our heart knows they are present, always with us.
So let love be joy and happiness, promises and dreams, let it be all things to you. If you are suffering, allow yourself to know that you hurt because of the love, and what this person meant to you, but know to that in time it is the love that will remain diminishing the pain and suffering. You will smile again, laugh again, enjoy life's offerings, and even take pleasure in looking at the photographs and sharing the memories of your loved one, and know, fully know, that you were loved.
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