beautiful life

A good, kind man passed from life yesterday.  Uncle Curt was my mom's little brother.  He was a kind soul. Kindness in his eyes, and his genuine smile.  He was diagnosed with lymphoma just months ago and chose to live the remainder of his life as naturally as possible.  I admire my Uncle Curt for how he lived his life and also how he chose to accept the end.  His life is beautiful.  His love for his family is beautiful.  Of course there is pain in the loss.  There are tears.  But shining brightest is the light that Uncle Curt has left behind in the lives of those that love him.

Until we meet again. 

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Beauty.  I see it in a life well lived.  While there is pain and loss and heartache, the tears make the living that much sweeter.

 

I shared a few minutes with my neighbor, Della.  Her adult son recently passed away.  Cancer.  I watched as the men from the funeral home came by to pick up his body.  It was a Friday.  As they wheeled him out on a gurney, I could see Della, leaning on her front door for support, tears falling.  I knew she was probably seeing more than just a body being loaded into a car but the life of her son, memories, photos in her mind, snippets of conversations.  I stopped by just to check in on her a few days later.  She was still sad.  She reminded me to hug my children, tell them I love them every day.  And while I saw her pain, I saw beauty too.

 

If you can imagine a life as a large, grand painting.  See the vibrant colors, the rich textures, the beauty in the scene.  But also notice the shadows, the depth, the lines.  Without the shadows we would not see beauty in the scene.  It would be flat, dull, lacking. 

 

But a life, a life contains living, dying, breathing, loving, laughing, crying. 

 

Color, texture, depth. 

 

And it is beautiful.

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