Another Harsh Reality
Wet Blanket, Anyone?
Once again, I started my day, standing face to face with another harsh reality. He (the harsh reality) is holding a wet blanket in his hands. I with a look that could only mean, “Oh no, not again.”
To begin, the thought of dying is not an obsession of mine. It really isn’t. Having said so, I wonder. Am I trying to convince you, the reader, or am I trying to convince me, the writer? Hmm. Yes, it is true – I have mentioned dying in a previous story or two. But that doesn’t mean anything. Or does it? Hmmm.
So, what exactly brought about my most recent contemplation of the prospects of dying? It was a single sentence that I came across yesterday. It was a simple, yet profound, sentence. “Everyone in your life will have a last day with you, and you don’t even know when it will be.”
The Heart of the Matter
So, did you happen to reread that last sentence once or twice? I did. Did you pause to contemplate the implications? I did. The fact is, in the past couple of days, I reread that sentence several times. Further, over the past couple of days, I have given that sentence considerable contemplation.
Which explains why, once again, here I sit in front of my keyboard, hunting and pecking. To begin, I asked myself, what’s the big deal? After all, those twenty words merely state the obvious. The obvious is just another inescapable fact of life. We live, we exist, and we die. Or, said another way, they lived, they touched my life, and they died. Whatever. No biggie. Right?
Once again, just another harsh reality. Once again, just another inescapable reality. It was easy being unfazed whenever grandma or grandpa spoke about the loss of someone near and dear to them. But today, not so much. It’s a whole different thing now that we are the grandma and the grandpa. Now, we are the ones speaking about the loss of someone near and dear to us.
Nobody Said It Was Easy
But life does indeed go on. And yes, dying is just another step we all must take on our own circle of life journey. Ashes to ashes and dust to dust. Blah, blah, and blah. Thank goodness I, the writer, do not obsess with dying, at least not too much. Thank goodness you, the reader, do not obsess with reading about dying. Hopefully, no more so than I do.
And to be sure, the promise I made in an earlier story applies to this one as well. I am still not going to start reciting the lyrics of a Garth Brooks song. That said, you still might want to call or text someone you haven’t spoken to in a while. Tell them you love them – and sound sincere. At the very least, you’ll most surely make them wonder, what the heck was that all about? They might even say, “Yeah, me too.”