Changes that Death Brings

There’s been a cartoon strip this past week depicting the harsh reality of life.  One frame shows a happy couple in their courting days, and in the second, the man, much older in years, visits the grave of his wife.  I keep glancing back and forth between these two pictures, their journey through life and the journey after death, pitying what this man has lost.  At a time in life, one can feel on top of the world, almost invincible, without a care in the world, so to speak.  Yet, so soon it can change and life is taken away, for no one can escape death no matter how much one ignores the prospect of it.

Oftentimes, it seems that it is not something to concern oneself with, as if it’s something that only happens to other people until it happens to you.  It makes one wake up and take notice of what one has, how precious it is.  It is difficult to imagine life being any different with the changes and sacrifices that we must make.  How will I respond?  What will I do?  How will I change?  What is required of me? I am uncertain of the best course of action.  Yet, I can’t let death get the best of me.  It will happen no matter how much or how little I dwell on it.  And the more I dwell on it, the more miserable I will be, and I will not be able to fully appreciate the life that is here now.  I need to live in the present, recall the past fondly , and learn from its lessons and meet the future with courage.