For Nicole

We face our own mortality every day and most days turn our heads in ignorance of the fragility of our lives.  Today we stop and listen.

People will say “it was too soon.” Others believe that God takes us when it is our time, and we are never to know why.  To me, it’s both.  God has taken Nicole to be with Him, surrounded by comfort, love and eternal peace, but for us the time was achingly wrong.

To each of us, Nicole meant something wonderfully different, but we are unified in our grief. 

I have learned that grieving ultimately gives way to reflection and eventually brings new perspective to life - or perhaps a little bit of “lost and found” – a chance to reflect on our own lives and worries.  Maybe we even gain a little humility, humbled by the way life can be seized without warning. 

Maybe today, Nicole’s day, will also be the day we decide to dismiss the anger, forget the frustration and inconveniences of our daily lives and just stop.  Notice the beauty that surrounds you, the love right next to you, and embrace the uncertainty of our futures but also the endless possibilities.

Grieve, but also live.  For Nicole. 

 
may my heart always be open to little
birds who are the secrets of living
whatever they sing is better than to know
and if men should not hear them men are old

may my mind stroll about hungry
and fearless and thirsty and supple
and even if it's sunday may i be wrong
for whenever men are right they are not young

and may myself do nothing usefully
and love yourself so more than truly
there's never been quite such a fool who could fail
pulling all the sky over him with one smile

- e.e. cummings