I guess one of the fallouts of living in the widow hood, is that we end up in our heads way too frequently, asking questions of ourselves, and of life, about life, ruminating on life in general.
The inside of my brain is a continual hamster wheel.
These are some of the things I wonder, the questions I ask, of myself. Mostly rhetorically, because as soon as I find one answer, I ask another question within that answer.
I read a post the other day about a friend’s mom getting the excellent prognosis that her cancer was gone. She was cancer free.
That feeling of elation that comes with that prognosis; I remember it well, following Chuck’s final CAT scan, after his first cancer and the endless surgeries and radiation treatments. I breathed again, fully, for the first time since learning that he had cancer.
What I didn’t grasp, couldn’t grasp, in the responses following this post was that, even while understanding that the first response was from a person of faith, was reading, Praise Jesus, thank you, Jesus!
Does Jesus, or God, sit up there in Heaven, saying well, that one prayed enough so zap! their person is cured but nope! that one didn’t, so, sorry, bud, no go your cancer continues on til it kills you.
That’s always my reaction when I read stuff tying recovery to god, anyways.
Death, and grief, can make you a better person than you were before. It can make you more compassionate, kinder, etc etc etc. It makes you pay more attention. You don’t take as much for granted, etc etc etc…
I get this picture in my mind of horrible people walking around, B.D. (before death), barreling through life, heedless and inattentive to those around them, including their person and other loved ones, being mean to others, petty, etc etc etc…
I guess there are people who do glide through life with no awareness of self or those they love, or strangers along their way, and then their person dies and they think oh, shit! I need to pay attention now! I need to be compassionate, aware, conscious, etc etc etc…
I read about stuff like this, and think wait a minute! I lived consciously! I was aware! I didn’t take him for granted! I told him every damn day that I loved him, that I felt cherished by him, that he mattered to me and my life! And I showed him in my actions! I was already compassionate to others, already kind to those around me and those I met throughout my days! So…What. The. Fuck.
It’s at times such as this that, if I didn’t live life consciously and aware, knowing that life just happens and that shit happens, I might get that nib of a thought in my head that I’m being punished for something.
Fortunately, I do realize it’s all just life and a roll of the dice and there isn’t some Deity in the sky fucking us up down here, with fateful decisions for our lives. I’m glad I don’t live with any regrets about not paying attention to what I had with Chuck.
Mostly, what I’ve learned from his death, is that life can suck big time, but it isn’t personal; it’s just life, and you get through it the best you can and you grab Love when you can, and you don’t wait for anything. But, also…
I knew that shit before he died.