When I consider that Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for over 24 years, I think what a long time that was. It seems inconceivable.
When I consider that my husband died at 58 years it does not seem nearly long enough. A life cut short.
When I contemplate that my daughter-in-law may die in her 30’s, it is too horrible to bear.
The number long or short, it’s all relative.
Death is inevitable
Someone asked me after my husband died if I would have married him knowing that he would die at 58.
The question left me speechless. I walked away.
“Yes, I would have married him!”
I would not have wanted to miss one day of our time together.
None of us know how much time is allotted to us on this earth.
Age is just a number but when someone we loves dies, the time together is more than just a number.
We go forward in faith knowing that all relationships end in death but hoping for long, meaningful times with the people we love. That’s all we can ask.
Lori Greer in Portland 
So sorry for your griefs, Lori.
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I’ll say a prayer for her.
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I’m guessing that apart from being crassly tactless, the person who queried whether you’d have married him if you knew he’d die at only 58 suffers from severe separation anxiety…
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That was a terrible question. I am certain you treasure every moment you had together.
Hugs
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I constantly struggle with the concept of why do our lived ones have to leave us. I know that we will all die. But, it doesn’t make it easier when I have to say goodbye to my sister, my dad, my nephews. The heartache is unbearable but I’m learning to accept it as part of living and I am learning to embrace all the moments we have to share with our loved ones.
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Speechless, Lori. You said it ❤
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People do ask the most amazingly insensitive questions. My s-i-l is regularly asked if her children (both adopted as babies) call her “Mum”?
Thinking of you and your whanau.
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Wow! What a cold thing to say! But yes, time is relative. When you’re under anaesthetic, the time seems like a split second, but if you’re in pain, whether physical or emotional, it seems to crawl by. I guess we each have to try to manage our time as well as we can to make the most of what we have and make the good times last .
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How right you are that all the time we can spend with people we love is a gift. Death is inevitable and we don’t want to waste a minute of the time we are given.
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Well said! Prayers continue for your daughter in law.
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Good morning. Thank you for reading and commenting. Thank you for your prayers too. It is at times overwhelming but blogging about it helps me to cope. I hope that you have a lovely day. Lori
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Thank you and you are most welcome! So glad that you have an outlet in blogging. It was heartbreak that actually started me blogging. It really does help.
❤ to you!
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Dear Lori,
Yes, It is so true what you have written. Even brief years are valuable to one who has lost a child young. and the tactless idea that we could ever guage the value of a life of memories no matter how short or long that time may be. Thank you for writing. I am sorry that your daughter-in-law may be facing her eternity so quickly. Peace. Grace and Strength to you. xx
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Reblogged this on The Reluctant Poet and commented:
Be sure you come read this!!
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Thank you!
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Agree agree agree agree
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Amen,
I am sorry and shocked someone would ask you such a ridiculous question. Along with loving someone be it a child, a spouse or even just a friend, comes with it pain and hurt and at some point loss. So to really love, one will also have heartache along the way. It is never happily ever after without a few ups and downs along the way. That doesn’t mean that we don’t look at our situation as ‘happily ever after’, because we can never erase all the love and joy we experienced with that love. To never experience pain it to never have loved.
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You expressed a fundamental truth in a beautiful way. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me. They lift my heart.
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In a way, time itself is life. Our life is the time allotted to us to live in the world. One should value time as much as life and spend it with love and compassion.
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