Everlasting Love

[WaltC]

Julius Lester wrote:

Grief ebbs but grief never ends. Death ends a life but death does not end a relationship.

Thomas Attig wrote:

…life is drained of its meaning…We do not want to stop loving them. We rightly resist those who say we must. We know in our hearts that it matters too much and to those who died.

We continue to hold those we love in our hearts, in the vital centers of our lives…We don’t ever entirely finish with grieving because as we grieve and seek lasting love, we are responding to persistent mysteries that pervade our lives. Love and suffering become our lifelong teachers...in lasting love we affirm the value of the meaningful differences those we love have made.

These two writers express my views concisely on the subject of everlasting love.

The Butterflies have returned to the gravesite - we are NOT alone!

[MartyT]

Bless your precious heart, Walt. It's so good to hear from you again, and I'm pleased to know that you are reading two of my very favorite authors.

I met Tom Attig a couple of months ago (he was here in Phoenix as a guest speaker for a bereavement conference) and he is just as genuine, warm and wonderful a person as I had hoped he would be. When I introduced myself to him after his presentation and asked him to sign my copies of his books, I said to him, "You don't know this, but I've read your books and I've been in love with you for years." He smiled warmly, took the books and inscribed the first one: "Marty, nice to meet you. I love you, too. Tom Attig." Needless to say, I was smitten

Your love for your precious Jeannie is indeed true and everlasting, Walt, and you will never, ever forget her.

I will not forget you. I have carved you on the palm of my hand.

— Isaiah 49:15

The truest words of all: I will not forget you.

You are in my waking thoughts,

my sweetest memories, my dearest dreams.

I will not forget you.

You have touched my soul, opened my eyes,

changed my very experience of the universe.

I will not forget you.

I see you in the flowers, the sunset,

the sweep of the horizon

and all things that stretch to infinity.

I will not forget you.

I have carved you on the palm of my hand.

I carry you with me forever.

— Ellen Sue Stern, Living With Loss, 1995