Today a friend of mine buried her husband and she is left as a widow at the age of 39. Her husband passed away suddenly, without any warning signs at all, on this past Friday. They had been sweethearts through school, married 17 years and they had two precious young sons and what they thought was the rest of their lives together…..
Today is my parent’s wedding anniversary. They have been together in the union of their hearts for 48 years today. She is celebrating this day here on earth without him, as he is in Heaven celebrating it watching over her. They met on a blind date, dated 6 months and married. They were one of the happiest couples I knew and they had 4 children that loved them very much. At the time that my Dad passed they had 9 grandchildren and a great grandchild on the way….
Some would say that the first couple’s lives had only just gotten underway, that they still had so many years ahead of them and so many memories to create. Some would say that the second couple had lived a full life and had been very blessed with many years together and memories galore.
I’ve thought about both of these couples a lot this weekend. I’ve thought about how blessed that they have been to have experienced the love that they had with the person they said those vows to one day. I can’t help but think about how their hearts that have loved so deeply and completely are now those hearts today that must ache for those that they loved.
This day has a totally different meaning to each of these women. To one it will be remembered as the day she said goodbye to a man that she didn’t get to love long enough and to the other it is a day that she has to cherish and celebrate in her heart the love that began this day so many years ago.
I know the pain for both is more than I can fathom or even begin to imagine how it feels as they try to make it through the day. I pray that their hearts will feel peace in knowing that they were both blessed with something that most live a lifetime without.
Some would argue that there is no connection; that these two women have a completely different story. Perhaps that is true. But I look at the big picture; I look at the rarity in finding a love that surpasses the distance between Heaven and Earth and transcends through the skies to bridge that gap between the two places. It is something that so many never have the opportunity to share with someone else or ever experience.
The one thing that these two very special ladies do have in common is that I am certain, that if given the opportunity, would tell you the same thing….If you are loved by another – cherish that love and never take it for granted.
