#sadness
WHEN SOMEONE WE KNOW DIES
There is no cure for the sorrow we feel
(It’s one reason that we cry)
no antidote for the pain
when someone we know dies.
We immediately wonder why her…why now…
how we would have loved just one more day
one more moment…
one more memory
when someone we know passes away…
Our mind flashes back to certain moments…
wonderful memories we linger on
as the joy we feel for having known her
mixes with the sadness that she’s gone.
Our memory happily jumps back and forth.
We give thanks she was ever sent to us
and we hope and pray she understood
everything she ever meant to us.
We couldn’t have created a better friend
If we had planted seeds ourselves then grown her
and we know our lives will never be the same
and we are better people…having known her.
So we are content to grieve a moment…
knowing in our hearts she wouldn’t mind…
knowing the sadness we feel today
will acquiesce to the joy she left behind…
Yes, today we’ll allow sorrow to envelop us
we’ll linger in our tears a while
knowing in the future
every time we think of her
with every memory…
we’ll smile.
THE SADNESS GOES AWAY
His son came to him with tears in his eyes…he was crying…
both of them were sad
His son had lost his Grandpa…and he had lost his dad.
“What am I going to do?” his son asked…his sadness on display
“Is there anything I can do to make this sadness go away.”
He hugged his son, lifted him up then lovingly placed him on his knee
“Let me teach you something,” he said…”your grandpa taught to me.”
Let’s sit here together close our eyes and think of Grandpa for a while.
Think of all you the time we spent together…all the times he made us smile.
“Today we’re feeling one huge sadness…and here is what Grandpa taught us:”
“Not to let this one huge sadness outweigh all the happiness he brought us.”
He said, “sadness and happiness are incompatible. They can’t take up the same space
and the best way to remove a frown is to put a smile on your face.”
“It’s not always easy.” he knew… “like today when we’re both so aware
how Grandpa is no longer with us…how sadness fills our air.”
“But Grandpa knew what he was talking about and when sadness comes our way
we must remember happiness…to make that sadness go away.”
So they sat together father and son…and they thought of him a while…
and on one of the saddest days in both their lives…they found a way to smile.
WITHOUT HER
With the memory of her death still fresh in his mind
he pauses to think about her…
and he wonders…
if the world will always be this quiet
and this lonely…
without her.
A MAN OF FEW WORDS
He was already a man of few words
but her death left him completely silent
and bereft
as if she took to heaven with her
whatever few words he had left.
NEVER LAUGH AS LOUD
Although the holidays can be a festive time…it can also be a time when we’re reminded of the precarious and fragile nature of life…a time we remember those not celebrating with us this year…a reminder of how our life is changed without them…It’s not that we will stop celebrating…only that our celebrations will never be the same…
A death leaves us forever somber…
surrounded by a cloud….
It’s not that we will never laugh again…
we’ll just never laugh as loud…
WHAT DO WE DO?
When we are sad the tears we form can be healing and satisfying…
What do we do when he have no tears left
but we haven’t finished crying?
Another person with a gun killing unsuspecting folks….
This latest one in California…at a bar in Thousand Oaks…
Each new shooting spree fails to bring us together
in fact it tears us more asunder…
as again we cry for the victims
as again we’re left to wonder…
With each new murder of the masses
With each new innocent dying…
What do we do when we have no tears left
but we haven’t finished crying?
It saddens me to see the sorrow on each face
of those affected by this massacre
in this new time…
in this new place…
But knowing this is not the last time this will happen between our shores…
knowing this has become routine…
saddens me…
even more.
What do we do when faced with a reality
we have trouble justifying?
What do we do when we have no tears left
but we haven’t finished crying?
THE SIGH
As he watched her sigh so plaintively
a sigh filled with sorrow and chagrin
it made him wonder
if it isn’t sighs
that initiate the wind.
CRYING IN THE RAIN
She did not want anyone to see her grief,
her sorrow
her sadness
her pain
So she waited for the clouds to form
and did her crying in the rain.
BY CHRISTMASTIME
The daughter picked up the tiny artificial Christmas tree her mom kept on the dresser by her bed
and, remembering its story…she gently bowed her head.
There was a time when her mom was young, when she was feeling a little blue
when she was sad, confused and worried…when she didn’t know what to do.”
A dear friend told her when things look bad to think about her Christmas tree.
That by Christmas time her worry would be gone and she’d see things differently.”
By Christmas time her friend said, gone will be your uncertainty, your misgivings and your doubt,
By Christmas time you’ll be wondering what you were ever so worried about.
The next day when she got home…she was surprised and excited to see
on this dresser…her friend had left her…this tiny Christmas tree.
From that day on whenever she was apprehensive…when her troubles flooded out
whenever she was overwhelmed with worry, or with doubt.
she would look at this little Christmas tree…”By Christmas time.” she’d say
and soon, as if by magic, her troubles would fade away.
The daughter had just come from her mom’s funeral, when tree in hand, a thought came to her head…
So she took it home and found a spot on the dresser by her bed.
She knows when she misses her mother…as she will most every day…
By Christmas time she’ll whisper…by Christmas time she’ll say