Monday, December 5, 2011

Learned and Yet to Learn

I find it very difficult to let a friend or beloved go into that country of no return.  I answer the heroic question, "Death where is thy sting?" with "It is here in my heart, and my mind, and my memories."

I find relief from the questions only when I concede that I am not obliged to know everything.  I remind myself it is sufficient to know what I know, and what I know may not always be true. 

When I find myself filling with rage over the loss of a beloved, I try as soon as possible to remember that my concerns and questions should be focused on what I have learned and what I have yet to learn from my departed love.  What legacy was left that can help me in the art of living a good life?


Did I learn to be kinder,
To be more patient,
And more generous,
More loving,
More ready to laugh,
And more easy to accept honest tears?
If I accept those legacies of my departed beloveds,
I am able to say,
Thank You to them for their love
and Thank You to God for their lives.

~ Maya Angelou,  
Letter To My Daughter

2 comments:

Jodi said...

This makes me want to continue striving to BE the kind of person who leaves that kind of legacy. With whatever time I have, not just assuming that I have 80 years to establish it. Beautiful passage worth sharing, Tricia.

Robert said...

The very 1st person whom I remember, and the very first person who held me, was my mommy. On February 22, 2011, I held my mommy for the last time, right after she died, I had to lift her out of her bed and carry her to a a better bed... I know that sting you talk about...