On Passing On....

These two beautiful little sweethearts lost their "Pop" this week.  Pop was my son-in-law Aaron's Dad.  He was 83 years old and a very active part of the girls lives.  They will miss him very much.

I try to keep my blog stories light hearted, but today I write with a heavy heart.  The girls are actually handling the loss of Pop as well as two little ones can.  They loved him and will miss him, but they are counting on seeing him again on the "other side" and are convinced that he will be keeping an eye on them from where he has gone.

They want to sing a little song to him at the services on Friday.  They want to sing "You Are My Sunshine." The reason they want to sing this particular song, is that when Ashlyn, who is now 10, was around 3 or 4 Pop was having a pacemaker put in and she was at the hospital as he was going in.  As they were wheeling him in, she looked at him and said "please don't take my sunshine away!"  Wow! That reduced everyone to tears.  As they say, from the mouths of babes.

It is going to be a difficult week for my Son-in-Law Aaron and Melanie and the girls, as well as Denise.  They have all spent a lot of time together.  Right now they are assembling pictures and memories to share at the services on Friday.  I know Pop would be pleased to know the girls want to sing a song for him.  I know how much it would mean to him...he absolutely adored the girls.

I wish that we did a better job in this country of preparing people for the inevitability of death.  All of us will experience this kind of loss at some time in our lives.  It seems like a tough subject to broach with a lot of people.  I think this is true in some cases because some fear what may actually happen during the death experience.  For some it is a fear of what happens to us after we die.  Regardless of your religious/spiritual beliefs, it is a subject you will all have to deal with at some point in your life.

I encourage you, all of you, to do some studying on the subject.  It is always better to face an issue prepared than to face it blindly. Reading subject material like that of Elisabeth Kubler-Ross and the five stages of grief model might be a good place to begin.

I also believe that a funeral should be a celebration of the life of the person who has passed away.  It should be a time to remember all the joyous occasions, the funny stories and other happy memories from childhood throughout their entire life.  These stories should be shared with the young ones as well as the adults.

Each day we have on this earth is a Gift...use it wisely...share it with love and joy....and leave something sweetly memorable behind.

GOD BLESS - Peace, Love and Joy