If

My husband and I had an overnight with our grandchildren and then Sunday dinner with the family. We did crafts with the kids and made cookies, watched The Grinch, played games and told stories. The time was special and we made great memories. It made me think of a blog I posted years ago which I thought I’d share again.

If you had the opportunity to speak with a loved one who has passed, what would you say? Considering this question, I realized some truths that I had not considered. 

 

Questions come to mind immediately. I would ask my mother about those last moments of her life. Was she aware her granddaughter and I held her during that time?

Was Dad aware his family did not arrive at the hospital in time before he died;  a family friend held his hand in the end.

My grandfather O'Brien I would question about his Irish immigrant father and Nan about her desire to be a teacher. Pop Pretty would speak of his parents, Dad's mother about her family. The list goes on...

Then I realized, all I wanted was to be in their presence. Words would be unnecessary though they would come, words of love.

Nothing was left unsaid before, nothing would need to be said then. No regrets...but longing...for physical presence which is the real loss. Now each person is carried in my heart and mind, everywhere, every day, walking through life with me, a part of who I have become. They are a part of me which enjoyed that family time, the me I brought to the experience.

This relationship without their physical presence is hard sometimes but an important one, giving me part of my sense of purpose and identity; the desire to write comes from it too.

Five little words would be necessary after all, "Thank you for my life."