I was thirty-eight and my husband was thirty-five, when he lost his valiant fight against cancer. Yes, he was too young to go. Our little boy was only three, and our family just right for us. But life has a way of moving on, whether we're ready or not.
On to heaven my love went before me...
and a piece of my heart went with him.
While watching the movie Driving Miss Daisy, the part at the end, when Hoke is feeding Miss Daisy her Thanksgiving pie, snatches my soul every time. I flash back to my dad in a nursing home. How he loved his pie! Feeding him, combing his soft white hair, tucking him into his bed before I left for home, were rituals I feared were nearing an end. I was right to fear. The rituals did end.
One day, Dad slipped on to heaven before me...
and a piece of my heart went with him.
When death calls, I tremble at its audacity and its brusque rudeness. It doesn't care what it interrupts or how many pieces of our hearts it carries away with it. Death nibbles at our relationships like an insatiable predator, and pretends it doesn't know it has already been defeated a long time ago.
When sighs escape me, when a longing for my loved ones brings tears, I read this:
So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption,
and this mortal shall have put on immortality,
then shall be brought to pass
the saying that is written,
Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
(1 Corinthians 15: 54-55, KJV)
I wipe my tears, my world rights itself, and the balance tips toward life once again. We were not made for death, but for living. And, someday...heaven.
6 comments:
I'm sorry for your loss! =*(
I never knew Jim personally, but met him. I wish I had known him better and we could have watched a Browns game together. Perhaps we could have invited Merv.
I did know your Dad for a brief few years, too brief. He was a ball of energy with a ready smile, and would help anyone that needed it.
I know they aren't dead, but alive, and I look forward to someday sitting down with both of them and spending many hours talking and laughing.
What a poignant post and reminder. Thanks so much for sharing these two special people, Dee - and your message of hope.
The most important thing is knowing we will all be reunited one day!
This is so beautiful and I know it will really minister comfort and encouragement to someone who needs it. A piece of my heart went with my mama, and like you, can't wait to reunite.
Beautiful, Dee. Truly.
I celebrate the truth of I Cor. with you. This is the hope to which we cling.
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