Look your loved one in the eye...

... and tell them what they mean to you:

My precious and beautiful wife, Allie, passed away during the night. I found her lifeless body on the floor of the bathroom at 3:30 a.m. The paramedics did everything they could, but she was already gone. We have no idea what happened. She was young (41). She was fit. She was so full of life that it's, frankly, very hard to believe she is gone.

I'm in shock and obviously grieving, but I wanted to let you know and write a few words about what she meant to me. It's my way.

She was my life, folks. She was my inspiration, the one who reached in and brought out all my essays. With her unrelenting encouragement, I've written 65 or so essays about broadcasting, postmodernism and new media. None of that would've been possible without my Alicia Faith.

...

She knew I loved her, and I knew she loved me. We were fortunate and blessed for that. We just talked about it yesterday, about how our love had actually grown since our wedding 18 months ago. I'm so very lucky to have had those months with such a precious and pure soul. Words cannot express how much I miss her.

May God hold her safely in His arms now and forever.

Reynolds brought this one to us.  Bringing to life the inevitability of death, in a gut-smacking way.

My death is something I can deal with.  I cannot imagine losing Linda.  We'll soon celebrate 25 years of marriage.  Tonight we were choosing shore excursions for our celebratory Alaskan cruise we'll take in September.  Then minutes later, I come across Terry Heaton's post.

Lord, be with Terry.  Tangibly.  Help him cope tonight.  Help him hope tomorrow.  And help us all prepare for that day when a loved one is lost. 

I cannot fathom the pain.  I cannot fathom how one moves forward, how one re-engages.  Numerous times I've wondered if my love for Linda is sinful.  An odd thought, I know, probably birthed from that mindset that thinks the overwhelmingly pleasant, the overwhelmingly desirous, must be something God would rather we let go of.  I pray tonight that I will be more cognizant and aware that life is indeed short.  I pray that I'll not underestimate the value of companionship or love returned.  I pray that I'll not waste precious minutes, hours, days doing that which in the end has no meaning.

I pray the same for you.

Comments

[XtnYoda]

Rick, my love and I went on an Alaskan cruise for our 25th anniversary. It was awesome other than 9-11 happening on the second day.

Thank you for sharing the heart rending account. I will cherish my wife and others with more deliberate attention because of it.

xtnyoda

[Gina Cobb]

Well said. Thank you.

We are truly blessed when we count our blessings while we still have them.

[cats]

it makes me so glad that hubby and i spent some real time together last night and talked about how much we loved one another.

[MarcV]

It's something your heart nibbles on the outer edges, yet you guard against it as best you can: what would I do without ____ ? Part of you wants to be ready "just in case", yet you don't want to imagine that kind of life.

This is particularly difficult contemplating that for your youngsters. All you can do is love on them. Not that I'm shamelessly plugging, BUT I recently posted on some of the love lessons a new father goes through: A Daddy Thing.