Pain.

Flesh is sacred,
some of us treat ours so badly.
Others out of no choice of their own
lose the fight
and gain eternal freedom
from the pain of this world.

Today was one of those days-
added to a year of beautiful
people with beautiful presences
who have lost their lives to Cancer.

Today the third of our family
fighting the meanness of
a disease so horrible it
nibbles for long periods
of time or gobbles in instances
the soul of loved ones
succumbed to years worth of glorious battle.

It is interesting that we started with an  Robert and today end with a Robert.
Hidden in the middle of that Robert sandwich was the sweetest aunt Melissa; a provider not only of nourishment but also of soul who loved to have others around her.

I digress today is Robert Finlinson's day.
I am grieving not for myself whom only met Robert a few times but for his family- Jessica, his wife, his children, his parents, siblings and especially for his younger brother who is my little brother (in spirit if not blood,) Rich and my dear sister Sharon.

It takes a toll on ones life when someone close to you loses a loved one. You mourn for the lost soul, but you mourn more for the ones left behind. They are the ones who remember the good, beautiful moments and also the hard, torturous ones and wonder why they couldn't have done more.

If you have a faith in life, love of a Heavenly Father and joy in the here after than you mourn with a little more peace which doesn't take off the sting but makes it just a little more bearable. Robert is one of those people whom we know will be waiting for his family to join him (a long time for them but for him just moments).

What more can one do for someones family than to just send flowers to a mortuary?  I think we owe it to ourselves and those we have lost (and those who live,) to take more than a second to rethink our lives-  Are we living the way we should be? Are we taking care of our bodies the best that we can? Are we listening to our leaders when they tell us to stop judging, belittling and hating on others. Are we loving others to the capacity that we hold in our beings to the full extent that we can? If the answers to these questions have any hesitation than we need to re plan out what constitutes the life we have left and live up to our potential.

There is Joy and Pain on this journey through life and we chose to face these things with optimism or downright contriteness. Reading Jessica's blog showed that she chose to face the hard journey, she, Robert and her children were on with a little humor, a ton of faith and a eye on the future. May we learn from her strong character and her love for the life that she was able to live with Robert in the decades she had with him.