Was it a few weeks back or some days ago when I read this post on Angelina Jolie’s Facebook Page. It caught my attention as she cleverly sums up the feeling of losing someone you love dearly. Whether or not she was referring to his ex-husband, Brad Pitt, whom she divorced recently or to someone she lost over death, I am not entirely sure. One thing I am certain, though, she eloquently describes exactly how most of us who lost someone dear feels and continue to feel long after the loss.
Someday you will be faced with the reality of loss. And as life goes on, days rolling into nights, it will become clear that you never really stop missing someone special who’s gone, you just learn to live around the gaping hole of their absence. When you lose someone you can’t imagine living without, your heart breaks wide open, and the bad news is you never completely get over the loss. You will never forget them. However, in a backwards way, this is also the good news. They will live on in the warmth of your broken heart that doesn’t fully heal back up, and you will continue to grow and experience life, even with your wound. It’s like badly breaking an ankle that never heals perfectly, and that still hurts when you dance, but you dance anyway with a slight limp, and this limp just adds to the depth of your performance and the authenticity of your character. The people you lose remain a part of you. Remember them and always cherish the good moments spent with them.
I thought it was rather timely as we are nearing All Saint’s Day when I read this.
Anyways, we had quite an interesting All Saint’s Day and that is what I’ll share with you today.
Since our beloved parents passed on 8 years ago, it has been our tradition to spend the whole day of November 1st at the memorial park, joining other families who gather there to pay respects and remember our departed loved ones. This year, though, in my efforts to avoid the excruciating afternoon heat, I decided to join my other siblings in spending the night of October 31st at my parents’ graves. I thought it would be ideal for the little man so he won’t be exposed to the harmful afternoon rays. I originally planned to stay for a few hours and go home at around 10pm, but apparently my little man had another thing in mind.
I never thought Jared would sleep soundly in a mat under the night sky, but he did! It drizzled a bit around midnight, but good thing my brother set-up our tent that evening. It was also good that I bought a citronella-scented candle to ward of the unwanted evening guests. I thought we won’t be able to make it, but I managed to spend the entire night at my parents’ graves. It sure beats joining the throngs of people during daytime. The memorial park is obviously more tranquil at night plus the weather is even better.
The little one woke up around 4am and we went home at about 5am. It was a day well-spent remembering my parents who left us all too soon. After getting some much-needed sleep, we returned the next night to join my other siblings and my niece and nephew in visiting my parents at the memorial park.
How did you spend the All Saint’s Day long weekend?