In listening and reading about remembrances of 9/11, during which time 3,000 lives were lost, my mind wandered to the story of Air France Flight 447 in 2009. Over 200 people were killed and French President Nicolas Sarkozy was comforting people. He met with “a mother who lost her son, a fiancée who lost her future husband. I told them the truth,” he said. He pointed out the difficulty in finding the plane because the zone where it is believed to have disappeared “is immense.”
Trump in denial: Today, we have close to 200,000 people dying from the coronavirus and a president incapable of telling the truth or enacting emergency measures to mitigate the problem. As a nation we are angry, depressed, divided, and leaderless.
For all those who loose someone they love, they loose a part of themselves and grief often overwhelms.
Kind words: If we spend our days always speaking kindly to those whom we love, even in tragedy we can get through life with few regrets. Furthermore, we might find a place in our heart that helps us to heal. I often quote a philosopher who lived sometime in 400 BC:
Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some battle.
No matter what unexpected situation one may face, when love is lost, it takes time for the reality to seep in. Grief is how our body and mind responds to loss. Each person goes through the process in an individual way. But what is helpful is knowing that one’s last encounter was loving, kind, and truthful.
(Twitter image for post: https://www.scientificanimations.com/wiki-images/, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=86436446)
Copyright 2020 Rita Watson