February
February...traditionally this is a somber month for me. No real reason, probably just cabin fever creeping to maximum tolerance and the desire for spring to return so I can stop wondering if that is a puddle or black ice on the road. The sky is generally gray, evenings quiet...but this February is different.
This February a dear friend lost her brother in a car accident. No one's fault, just an icy road. She was the one who had to tell her family, her father. Now she is the one the family is turning to to make arrangements. She has a husband and two small children of her own. I find myself wondering when she will time fine for herself, time to grieve, time to come to terms with her loss.
There is no way I can begin to understand her grief, and nothing I can say or do will lessen it. But I remind myself that just because words won't make it better doesn't mean I should fade to the background. So I send hugs, try to plan some sort of movie night where she can be with friends and the kids can play instead of watched.
Meanwhile in Cumberland county a grandmother lies in a hospital bed, fighting to just stay where she is as congestive heart failure seems to be mounting a final assault. Another friend travels back and forth from here to there on the weekends to spend time with her grandmother. This is the anticipated end to a life, but that doesn't make it easier. Tension in the family is high, making a sad situation even harder.
Another friend is recovering from chemical therapy for a cancerous mass in her chest. It lightens my heart to say she is recovering well and looking forward to no longer being under her mother's care!
Such a serious month. I feel a definite lack of silliness this month, and an increase in that helpless feeling that comes when people you love are hurting and there isn't much you can do to help.
But February will end and March will bound in. There will be more birdsong, more sunshine and less snow. There will be more smiles, more silly and we will remember the ways those who have left us made us smile, and enjoy all the more the wonderful people who bring smiles to our days.
This February a dear friend lost her brother in a car accident. No one's fault, just an icy road. She was the one who had to tell her family, her father. Now she is the one the family is turning to to make arrangements. She has a husband and two small children of her own. I find myself wondering when she will time fine for herself, time to grieve, time to come to terms with her loss.
There is no way I can begin to understand her grief, and nothing I can say or do will lessen it. But I remind myself that just because words won't make it better doesn't mean I should fade to the background. So I send hugs, try to plan some sort of movie night where she can be with friends and the kids can play instead of watched.
Meanwhile in Cumberland county a grandmother lies in a hospital bed, fighting to just stay where she is as congestive heart failure seems to be mounting a final assault. Another friend travels back and forth from here to there on the weekends to spend time with her grandmother. This is the anticipated end to a life, but that doesn't make it easier. Tension in the family is high, making a sad situation even harder.
Another friend is recovering from chemical therapy for a cancerous mass in her chest. It lightens my heart to say she is recovering well and looking forward to no longer being under her mother's care!
Such a serious month. I feel a definite lack of silliness this month, and an increase in that helpless feeling that comes when people you love are hurting and there isn't much you can do to help.
But February will end and March will bound in. There will be more birdsong, more sunshine and less snow. There will be more smiles, more silly and we will remember the ways those who have left us made us smile, and enjoy all the more the wonderful people who bring smiles to our days.
posted by Liz @ 9:26 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home