Great Quote That Puts Things Into Perspective

[KathyG]

In Dean Koontz' new book, "Odd Hours," the lead character says something really profound about grief:

"Grief can destroy you or focus you. You can decide a relationship was all for nothing if it had to end in death, and you alone. Or you can realize that every moment of it had more meaning than you dared to recognize at the time, so much meaning it scared you.

"So you just lived, just took for granted the love and laughter each day, and didn't allow yourself to consider the sacredness of it. But when it's over and you're alone, you begin to see it wasn't just a movie and a dinner together, not just sunsets or worrying over a high electric bill. It was everything, it was the why of life, every event and precious moment of it.

"The answer to the mystery of existence is the love you shared sometimes so imperfectly, and when the loss wakes you to the deeper beauty of it, you can't get off your knees for a long time. You're driven to your knees not by the weight of the loss -- but by gratitude for what preceded the loss. And the ache is always there, but one day not the emptiness, because to nurture the emptiness is to take solace in it, is to disrespect the gift of life."

[Scotty]

Thank you for the post Kathy. I can take something from those words.

...Scotty

[sync]

Tears have a wisdom all their own. They come when a

person has relaxed enough to let go and to work through

his sorrow. They are the natural bleeding of an

emotional wound, carrying the poison out of the system.

Here lies the road to recovery.

-- F. Alexander Magoun

[MartyT]

Dear Ones ~

As a collector of words, I really like this thread. Thank you, Kathy and sync, for sharing quotations I've not heard or read before. Why don't we continue the trend? If anyone else has a quotation that really speaks to you, please feel free to post it here ~ just be sure to cite the source, please

You'll find dozens of such pieces I've collected myself over the years, on the Comfort pages of my Grief Healing Web site:

Comfort for Grieving Hearts

Comfort for Grieving Animal Lovers

[DesertBob]

In Dean Koontz' new book, "Odd Hours," the lead character says something really profound about grief.

Dean Koontz and Stephen King are both very deep thinkers and keen observers of the human condition and their novels often have very profound things to say. You would not think so considering that they mostly write horror novels. King once said that he tries to get his characters into all sorts of trouble so that you feel your problems aren't so bad at all by comparison ;-)

I would be remiss to leave out Joe Hill, Stephen King's son. He may surpass Dad, if that's possible. His first novel, Heart-Shaped Box, is stunning.

I like this quote, thanks for sharing it. I just purchased Odd Hours but haven't had time to start it yet. Now I'm looking forward to it even more.

--Bob

[MartyT]

This seems a good place to share with all of you the content of a lovely message I received last month from one of our members:

I just started to read "In Lieu of Flowers" by Nancy Cobb and came across this sentence, which made me think of this "Grief Healing" site:

“Telling the stories, voicing the worst, questioning any and all who will understand and listen, who may have stories of their own to tell, is where the faintest glimmer of healing begins.”

[KathyG]

This poem by e. e. cummings expresses so well what we feel when we remember our loved ones:

i carry your heart with me

(i carry it in my heart)

i am never without it

(anywhere i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done by only me is your doing, my darling)

I fear no fate

(for you are my fate, my sweet)

i want no world

(for beautiful you are my world, my true)

and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows

higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)