Wherever humans garden magnificently,
there are magnificent heartbreaks.
Henry Mitchell
Forgive me, Henry, but I'd like to make a substitution...
Wherever humans live magnificently,
there are magnificent heartbreaks.
Arlene Tencza
We attended a wedding this past weekend...the glorious culmination of many years of waiting and praying and dreaming on the part of two people.
As I sat there watching them come together for their first dance, arms wrapped around one another, eyes dripping love and adoration, a song popped into my mind...
And hot tears began to flood my eyes.
My son noticed, and asked gently, "Mom, are you sad?"
Yes, yes I was.
Because I had just finished remarking to someone I hadn't seen in years, how tragic it is that it takes weddings and funerals to get us together.
And because I have learned that life is full of snapshots...fleeting moments like these...
That we need to pay attention to, or they are forever lost.
Gifts we need to embrace and hold on to...
To give us the strength to get through the storms that will inevitably come.
And ultimately, the day we will hear the news that stops our hearts and puts a period on the life of someone we love.
Yesterday I walked into church and shared with my Priest what a great plant sale he had missed that Friday, but how I was sure having a day with his grand-babies more than made up for it.
"I never knew it could be so wonderful!" was his ecstatic reply.
"Yes, and with great love comes great pain," said I, as he knowingly nodded his head.
You see, right before church, I had heard of a tragedy to the EMS community, of which my daughter and many of her friends is a part...