Reflections on Life: Beginning, Middle and End

Beginning: Birth
Middle: Leaving home for college, marriage and sometimes having your own children
End: Death

I've had the opportunity to reflect on life for the past 4 weeks or so. That is part of why I haven't posted in a while. My family has witnessed quite a few endings to life during this time. In a way, it bothered me. I remember a time, not too long ago, that we attended or were invited to and unable to attend, many weddings. Birth is always a time of celebration. Steve and I have had 5 such occasions ourselves. Friends of ours just had twins and finally were able to bring them home from the hospital. Other friends of ours have 4 girls and are now expecting a boy. All reasons to celebrate. We celebrate life a lot. But what about death? Death can bring so many emotions of varying degrees.

A month ago we literally celebrated the life of a friend, the father and father-in-law of very dear friends. I can honestly say it was one of the best funerals I've ever been to. This friend died young of cancer, but he left quite a legacy. We know for a fact that we will see him again in heaven some day. Not long after that, my parents informed me of the death of a lady who had quite a significant impact on my childhood. She wasn't that old, she was in her 70's. I don't know what she suffered from, but read in the obituary that she had been in a nursing home. Then, a few days later, my parents again informed me of the death of another lady of significance from my childhood. I was really young, but I remember her house. It made me think of a castle. It sat on a hill facing a bridge that crossed over the river of that town. I imagined secret passageways in her house. She was the age you expect life to end. Then, last Wed., we got word of Steve's great uncle passing away. He was 95. We expected his time would come, but was very surprised when it did. His health had been worsening over a long period of time, but because he was hanging on for so long, it seemed like a shock. That night, we got word of someone we knew in college (I actually knew him and his wife before college, when they were dating) had fallen to his death in a construction accident. All of these people I have known through a connection with church. I'm confident that I will see them in heaven.

We went to Uncle Bob's funeral (Steve's great uncle) over the weekend. It was a priviledge. We got to hear stories we've never heard before. We got to see people we haven't seen in a long time. We got to watch him receive Military Honors. Our children got to experience this and had questions, all very good questions. It was another funeral of celebration. Uncle Bob had impacted many people. It was bittersweet.

Steve's Uncle Buck has been dealing with cancer for a couple of years. A week or two ago we learned that he is now on Hospice. We stopped to visit him on our way home from Uncle Bob's funeral. It was a hard visit, but a very good one at the same time. He was set up in a hospital bed in the family room. The last time we saw him he was walking around. The biggest change we noticed was a look of peace on his face and a difference in the way he conversed with us. Aunt Peggy wasn't home when we stopped by, but Cousin Joyce was taking care of Uncle Buck. It was a hard trip home. After we got home, we talked with Steve's mom for a bit on the phone to let her know we got home safely and to talk about our visit. I told her what I noticed and asked her some questions. After we hung up the phone with her, Aunt Peggy called to see how we were doing after the visit. I told her what I had noticed too. My suspicions were right and Uncle Buck had asked Christ to be his Lord and Saviour. So, we now know that we will see him in heaven some day too. That eases the pain, but it is still going to be hard. There was such a peace in Aunt Peggy's voice that we've waited a long time to hear. She had been praying for Uncle Buck for a long time. We have one more trip planned to see Uncle Buck, hopefully before he's gone. They've asked Steve and I to sing Till the Storm Passes Over at the funeral. I have a tendancy to cry when I sing something meaningful. I'm hoping that we both can make it through the song for our friends and family, before we lose it. My friend Theresa said to me "it's hard to sing at a funeral, but the songs are to comfort the friends and family". So true.

So, it's been busy around here. I have a few posts to catch up on. I've promised Bev and Betsy to blog about a few things and I will.

I'll leave you with this for now.

Everything on earth has its own time and its own season. There is a time for birth and death, planting and reaping, for killing and healing, destroying and building, for crying and laughing, weeping and dancing, for throwing stones and gathering stones, embracing and parting. There is a time for finding and losing, keeping and giving, for tearing and sewing, listening and speaking. There is also a time for love and hate, for war and peace. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 Contemporary English Version (CEV)