Speaking of giving thanks....I was perusing My Pictures this early Sunday morning, looking for nothing in particular yet something very specific. I had the opportunity to look at nearly 200 pictures taken from one birthday celebration three years ago. I was nostalgic because the event was filled family and the celebrant was one of my favorite people, but I was also feeling the heartstrings because I realized that two important people who attended the event have now passed on and are no longer with us.

At the time, I'm sure no one thought for a moment that any in attendance wouldn't be there in the future to see at least 50 more birthday celebrations. As a matter of fact, I think I remember speaking with people about getting together in five years, at the exact same place, during the same time of year, with the same people, to celebrate another half-decade of life lived. The sad truth is that we didn't even make it 30 days before someone passed away, in the prime of their lives, leaving family and friends grieving their loss and wondering why such terrible heartache was meant to be.

Of course the death of anyone near and dear sends people into a reflective, introspective dialogue about the meaning of life, the rationalization of perceivably poor decision making, the 'what ifs', the 'whys', and most importantly the 'hows'. I found people to vascilate between their own fog of what I called 'mortality processing' into a kind of collaborative group think. The latter of which full of ponderings and postulating.

It's unsettling to bear witness to the death of a loved one. I'm not sure how to quantify the recovery process, nor do I feel capable of describing the uncomfortable ache and longing for that one last moment.

I came across some photos which reminded me of my experience here on Earth.

In memory of JV & PJ