Reflection…
For 55 years, my parents were wed. My mother suffered a heart attack and fell one morning while she was walking downstairs to cook breakfast for my father. My father attempted to lift her up and nearly pulled her into the truck. He took her to the hospital while traveling at top speed and disregarding traffic signals.
Unfortunately, she wasn’t with us when he got here.
My father remained silent the whole funeral and his attention was diverted. He barely shed tears.
His kids joined him later that evening. He requested my brother, a theologian, to tell him where Mom would be at that very time as we recalled lovely memories in a setting of sorrow and nostalgia. My brother started to speculate about where and how she would be in the hereafter.
My dad paid close attention. He abruptly asked that we drive him to the grave.
We replied, “Dad, it’s eleven o’clock and we can’t go to the cemetery right now.”
He remarked with a louder voice and a glazed expression:
“Please don’t argue with me, you are arguing with a man who just lost his wife of 55 years.”
After a brief period of considerate silence, we stopped arguing. We went to the cemetery and asked for permission from the night watchman. We found the tomb using a flashlight. My father stroked her, said a prayer, and said to his children, who were saddened by the scene:
“It was 55 years ago, don’t you know? If a person has no idea of what it’s like to live your life with a woman, they cannot talk about real love.
He stopped and wiped his face. “She and I shared that situation together. I shifted jobs, the speaker continued. “When we sold the house, we packed up and left town. We rejoiced with one another when our kids finished university, we lamented the loss of loved ones together, we prayed in some hospitals’ waiting rooms, we reassured one another when we were hurt, we hugged one another at Christmas, and we forgave one another for our faults.
Do you know why I’m delighted that it’s gone now, children?
she departed before I did. She didn’t have to endure the suffering and grief of burying me or of being left alone after my passing. I am the one who will encounter that, and I praise God for that. I would not have wanted her to suffer since I love her so much.
My brothers and I were in tears when my father’s speech came to an end. He calmed by saying; “It’s okay, we can go home, it’s been a good day.”
That evening, I realized what true love truly is: “True love is not romanticism, it is not primarily about sex; rather, it is related to work, appreciation, care, and, most importantly, the sincere love that two devoted people express.
Peace within you.
Light and Love
