Its A New Year Everyone!!

Personally, I find it so amazing that we have our foot in the door of the year 2012.

Do you remember twelve years ago... we were packing our basement shelves with containers of water, extra blankets, canned food with a manual can opener, a Bible and boatloads of courage as we were warned of the end of our world, or at the very least, our computers were going to crash (which was considered the end of the world!). We were all on the Y2K train, an exciting adventure, yet a feared destination.

And ........ nothing happened!

As I reflect back to that time of panic for most, it seems such a trivial event; it happened, and we all moved on with our lives.

If this WOULD have happened as predicted, this would have been a bigger than HUGE deal.

Losing someone that has been a part of our lives through death seems to feel just like that. We plan a meaningful celebration of their life, gather food for sustenance, The Bible for comfort and cover ourselves in a blanket of courage to move into the "next" day. We reflect on the life of the person that "we" felt was the center of our being, and try to express and convey our feelings for that person to others through a short story which is published in the local newspaper.

So all this means... since I felt this way about this special person in my life, everyone else should feel the same way, RIGHT?

Unfortunately, they do not. The loss has not affected them in the same way the loss has affected you. They have shown their sympathies in the appropriate way at the appropriate time, and move on with their lives. For a while, you are recalling the death and the funeral on a daily basis. Others, however, will recall the death and the funeral when their memory is prompted when they see you again, and possibly mention a connection they had with your family member.

As a tender suggestion for the New Year, think of someone that you know who has lost someone close to them in the past year, and take the time, even five minutes, to call or write that person a short note of friendship and encouragement. Let that person know that you care about them, that you REMEMBER that this has been their personal train wreck, and that you understand it is a bigger than huge deal for them. You could be the engineer that guides the train back on the track.

Eyes To The Sky!! Kathleen