There can be nothing harder than losing a child. The grief and loss are beyond belief. No one can really grasp the depth of pain unless they have been through it. There is a void that nothing can fill.
It is hard to even know what to say to parents who are suffering from such a tragic loss. Words seem so inadequate, and we are left feeling so helpless. We are reminded at such times of the fragility of life, and parents often feel guilty for taking so much for granted. Yet, if we truly lived as though each day might be the last, we wouldn’t really be living. And so we carry on, doing the best we can.
When a jolt comes in the form of a death, we are thrown into a period of questioning everything. Life will never be the same. We can’t even imagine life going on without our loved one. The pain is unbearable . All we can see or feel is the loss, the empty space that once was filled with the essence, the spirit of that person. All we can think of is how much we want them back. We want to wake up and find it was just a bad dream. And as we talk to others, we learn more and more about the impact that our child had on the lives of so many. And the grief grows.
The heart has an open wound, and healing seems impossible. No one can really do anything. We cannot make it better. All we can do is to embrace those who are grieving, so that they will know that they are not alone. Together we can begin to celebrate the life of that special soul, and to see how much each soul brings to this world, regardless of how long they are here.
Love is eternal, and death shows us that. The power of the love that we feel, even as we grieve, is testimony to the enduring quality of love. Though physically no longer present, the spirit of the person remains, and is felt perhaps even more strongly than when alive.
Each soul who dies, teaches us so much about life. When we feel that we can’t go on, we must feel in our hearts the tender love of the departed. We must know that they want us to carry on, and to live life fully. We must also know that they understand so much more than we can know, and they want us to accept what is.
They become angelic teachers, and we must learn to tune in to their wisdom. We may feel that we cannot communicate with them in words anymore, but heart-to-heart communication is stronger than ever. So when we feel enveloped by the darkness, we can envision these angels as beautiful points of light, radiating outwards, filling our world with the light of love. And when we can do that, it brings joy to their souls.
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