mpowergen.com blog » death

You Never Know…

Administrator — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 18:35:53 +0000

Since my Internet has been off & on all day (weather connection issues, maybe?), I’m on my phone blogging. Over the past several days, I have had life & death on the brain. A week ago, a speaker in church quoted Ecclesiastes (“a time to…”) & I was wondering what time it is in my life. Then, over the weekend, I had a chance to walk through a cemetery. I noticed headstones of two babies, both born in spring last year, both only living one day. I stepped by other headstones noting lives of length and lives so brief. One stone shared a wedding picture, the word “mother” and dates of a life less than 30 years. I thought of families, separated and sad, mourning and weeping.

I thought about myself and how I am spending my time. I wondered if I am building others & making connections, strengthening relationships & learning all I can. Certainly I have room for improvement.

“You never know….” And you don’t ever know. So make the most of your day, live to be who you are, empower yourself with knowledge & uplift others along the way. Then you can live without regret…but most of all, you can live!

My Friend

Administrator — Tue, 25 May 2010 19:43:19 +0000

Today, my friend is dying. I don’t tell you this to make you sad. I am sad that her time on earth is soon to be over, but I am very grateful that I have been blessed with the opportunity to know her.

We haven’t known each other for a long time, yet I am connected with her and her family. Connection is not something I do easily, so it has been amazing to love and cherish her family so quickly.

I have been thinking a lot lately about the lessons Geri has taught me. She has been in the hospital for about 6 weeks and most of that time I have visited or someone from my family has visited almost every day. We have laughed, we have cried, we have held each other’s hands and we have talked and talked and talked.

How I love our talks. We talk about our children. We talk about lives. We talk about her death and passing on to the other side. We talk about our dreams. We talk about our disappointments. We talk about God. We talk about peace. We talk about how we wish that we had done differently. We talk about our experiences with long term illness. We talk about life.

Geri has been a true friend. When I leave the hospital, I am a better person. I have learned about patience. I have learned about long-suffering. Mostly, I have learned about love.

I am so grateful for the gift of love given to me and my family from Geri, Warren, Robyn, Susie, Linda and Cheri. They are and forever be an integral part of our lives. I want to be a better person just by knowing them. Thank you my friends.

How have you expressed your love today?

A Matter of Life & Death

Administrator — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 18:53:25 +0000

As I have puzzled over a blog topic for the day, I thought about many subjects. I have written one on spring, one on judgement, and had a few other thoughts bouncing around my brain waves…but nothing felt right. Then I thought about blogging about death. No. I couldn’t do that. It would be too heavy. Too serious. But the thought continued…& then came a phone call. The familiar voice on the other end of the line shared news of a loved one’s passing. And so I share a few thoughts:
We have many gifts to rejoice about through this existence–life itself, opportunities to grow, learning, relationships, connections–the list goes on and on and on…and then, our time for learning in this life shifts, and we move onto a different sphere. Whatever you believe, I hope you feel that this moving on is a blessing and not a curse. I do.
And so we live, and we die, and we leave a legacy. What are you leaving? Our loved one left a legacy of laughter, of love for God, of loyalty to family. I pray I will build upon her legacy and that all who know her will be comforted.
One of my favorite songs shares the sentiment of what would happen if today was the only day you had on earth. What would you do? How would you spend today? What have you neglected to say that you need to share? Will you have the courage to share it today?
I hope you will feel this message: live life with laughter; live with loyalty to those you care about; live with love and LIVE TODAY. You never know…