i stepped off the elevator unsure of what to expect...nervous anticipation filling my chest as i watcher her walk towards me, certain of nothing other than the overwhelming sense of sadness i saw as i looked into her eyes.
she loved him deeply...something shared between only a few very lucky people i'm discovering. i've known her many years, watched her experience heart ache on more than one occasion...but nothing like this. he was the love of her life...if only for a few very precious years...once a neighbor, something so much more in the end.
we talked about their life...how much they shared, the importance of what really matters...and that they had something special and, while it was ironic and sad that it was so short-lived, they still had it and that's more than many can say in a lifetime.
i ached for her...for the love she was letting go...for the cruel reality that after all they had each suffered through they only got to enjoy something so wonderful for such a short amount of time...for the eleven year old son she would have to tell...and for the shared life she would have to learn how to walk through alone.
i don't understand why these things happen...why some people wait an entire lifetime to find the one person who completes them only to lose them after a few short years...why it's so hard to find that person and why some of us never do...
i left there knowing he was dying...that she would never hear his voice or see his smile or look into his eyes...that his hand would never hold her's again and never would they share a decision or a meal or a day at the lake...and i hurt for her...and maybe even a little for me and everyone else i know who longs for that type of love...even to only have it for a little while.
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