The End is Just The Begining

 SO I have this other blog and I think I need to put the two together  

This is from the Bendixsen Bit's blog but feels like it should be here as well 

The End is Just The Begining

Some time ago our family took a very long road trip to a very special place. All the way there we heard the Oh Too Familiar “Are we THERE yet”? The road seemed long and tiresome and although at times we made the road fun for the most part is was all about wearing your seat-belt and staying where you belong and not getting lost and on and on. Seemed like more of a burden to get where we were going then the Special Place would be worth when we got there.

What our children did not know was the Special Place would be worth every minute they had to spend in the car. What could they in their inexperience know of their destination? They did not remember having been there and could not possible know that their parents were doing all they could to provide them with a grand and wonderful life experience. Soon they would have more joy then they had ever previously known.

When we arrived they were indeed thrilled. So many memories of that day fill my heart and theirs. Such reunions as they had never remembered. Families, gone from our presence but not forgotten, were waiting for us to greet us and fuss over us and share everything they had with us. It was indeed a marvelous time. We were so happy to be where our family was. The long road was over and the End was just the Beginning.

We are all part of a larger family, The Family of Our Father in Heaven. He too has asked each of us to go on a long journey to a special place. The road is filled with seat-belts that must be worn to keep us safe. At times we have fun, laugh and create a memory of the journey, but still we must follow the rules of this road. And when we reach our destination we too will be filled with the joy of being again with Family that we knew but perhaps because of time and distance and space have forgotten

Sometimes, in our lives, we make choices that take us places we do not want to be Yet, at other times, People in our lives make choices that leave us in places we do not wish to be. Still we stand together and that makes us strong. We are a forever family and we WILL Stand strong yet again, even if we do not want to stand here.

Here where the road seems longest, Here where the pain is felt most deeply. Here feeling left behind as everyone else moves on without us. Here, left Standing alone, on earth. Yet we remember something of our Home in Heaven each time we hold that new life that comes so fresh from our wonderful Heavenly Home. We feel it when we reunite with friends and loved ones in this mortal sphere. We feel it most tenderly when one we loves reaches the end of their journey and discovers,

The End is just the Beginning.

 

What I am Learning about Grief. 

What I am learning about grief, is that it is not equal.

 It slugs some hard in the chest, and leaves a hole, too long empty. 

It gently caresses others letting them know that although they are alone today in their sadness, they are not alone, at all.

Some need the wailing and weeping and shedding of tears,  to feel the hand of death, close and painful.

While others shake hands with that dark cloak, and sit quietly, reading a book of Joy, waiting  for him to decide it is time to leave.

No two persons experience Grief the same.

Fathers have been buried in silence, while Mothers have cried silent tears in the night because their bed is empty on one side

Brothers have been cheered and celebrated as they have come home from overseas,  only to find themselves quarantined at home for weeks, and still separated from the family they love.

I have learned that Joy can come from Grief.

 Pain is relieved and suffering is gone.  Bodies laid gently to rest under the watchful eye of family,  much to the uncomfortableness of the workers who usually don’t have an audience.

Babies still giggle as your heart longs to hold them. Now, letters come in the mail that never came before.  You’ve got mail is heard from the box to the door.

Flowers still bloom and remind us that we are all reborn from our dark cold grief into something beautiful, something that is more than it ever was before. 

Something that now shares that moment of night, with the sunshine of warmer days