It's All Bigger Than Us

Well, I woke up Sunday morning with no way to hold my head that didn't hurt.
And the beer I had for breakfast wasn't bad, so I had one more for dessert.

Okay, make that Saturday and a double dessert. Tomatoe. Tomato. Mox nix. It's results that count.

Anyway, so early it was still dark, I popped a bottle of Tecate, squeezed in some lemon juice, and went out on the front porch with Tess, our dog. Thinking of Janet and Mom and Dad -- losses you live with and losses to come that you'll also live with.

And as I tipped my head up for that first tangy, cold swig, I saw them. Millions of stars. And it was comforting to be pulled out and out and out of my head for a minute, remembering that, in the end, the only thing that really matters is love.

I think the thing to do is tell the people you love -- and who surely must know when they are dying -- that you'll love them and think about them and miss them every day of your life.

Though death will eventually pull us apart
The love that I feel will live on in my heart.

And if I'm lucky, someone I love will tell me that before I die. We have to learn to talk about the uncomfortable, scary, and sad fact of death...because we all have to live with it and, at some point, experience it.

It's hard to really wrap your mind and feelings around that when you're sad and sorry and feeling terrible loss...and lost because you don't know what to do or say to comfort yourself and the dying person.

But we owe it to ourselves and them to try.

Lyric credit for the opening lines: Kris Kristofferson, "Sunday Morning Coming Down," one of the greatest songs in the history of the universe by one of the greatest songwriters. Fact.

###