Death is an unfortunate part of human life and tends to bring along with it this horrible emotion called grief.
Grief is an overwhelming sadness that stems from a feeling of loss and can root itself deeply in the heart. Grief is especially potent when someone who is close to you dies or when a feeling of untimeliness surrounds the death.
The College of Charleston community recently lost a member to a battle with cancer. I can see the many people who are grief-stricken by the death of this individual and I am certainly among them.
I feel this individual’s death was unjust, untimely and cruel. This person was loved by many, admired by most and an inspiration to all. They were perseverant, brave and selfless. They were much too young and still had an abundance of life ahead to fulfill their incredible aspirations.
The pain I feel resonates, not only from the piercing ringing of death in a general sense but also from a pitiful remorse that someone so young and so kind could be lost so soon.
The only solace that I can find is that this person fought a long, exhausting, painful and costly war against an illness which deteriorated their quality of life (though from their attitude you could never tell). Death, for this person, means liberation from the frigid confinement of hospitals, the painful attack on the body from treatment and the absolute exhaustion from constantly having to fight for their life.
So remind yourself when you feel the grief beginning to take root that death, in many ways, is freedom. Leaving this Earth, despite beliefs about where you go after, is a direct path away from the worldly torments we all face, to a better place.
Though we, who are left behind, may wonder how we will face these torments without the one we’ve lost and may even doubt that we have the ability, we will find a way.
Someone we care about and who undoubtedly cared for us, would not want us to suffer in grief for their loss, but rather continue to live our lives in gratitude for the rising sun which wakes us every morning. They would insist that we do the things we’ve always wanted, do the things that make us happy and fulfilled.
This is where I find peace.
Those we lose are not truly lost but continue to live as we remember them in our minds with the fondness of our memories shared and holding their spirit close in our hearts we take them with us as we continue down the path of life.
In this time of grief for the College of Charleston community, my heart extends to the family and friends of the important person who is no longer physically with us. Know that we will hold our memories of them close and our love for them pours out like a flood.