It seems like every time I turn around this summer someone has died.
I met a boy just a few days ago, and learned tonight that he lost the fight with life and decided to end his early. Completely blew me away. He seemed so happy and so full of life. Unfortunately, we never really know what battles people are fighting.
It's one of those nights where you really ponder about life and remember that you can't EVER take it for granted. You never know when someone close to you will be gone. The lesson to be learned here is to make sure people you love know it. Never hold back. Don't live in fear.
Recently, I had a very vivid flashback of the day that I learned of an unexpected death of someone very very close to me. I had a breakdown. It was probably the most traumatic day of my life so far. Honestly, you never come back from that. You can never be the same person once you experience an unexpected death of someone close to you. And you probably shouldn't be the same person...you should be wiser and stronger and learn from that experience. That's why we have hard struggles: to learn and be better.
The problem is that very few people understand that pain. Many don't understand, and you really can't blame them. They haven't experienced that unexpected loss. You actually envy them, because they don't fight that constant battle of trying to stay positive and live life the best that you can. People expect you to get over it after 1, 2, 3 years...but the truth is...you never get over it. At some point, you just have more good days than bad days. But the bad days never go away. I think it's okay to have bad days and miss someone that you lost. It doesn't make you weak. It just makes you human.
To those who have lost someone close to them unexpectedly, I am truly sorry. Remember that you WILL see them again, and they don't want you to waste your life missing them..so instead HONOR them.
To those who have not, I truly would never wish that experience upon my absolute worst enemy. But remember, don't take life for granted and ALWAYS tell the people you love that you love them every chance you get. You never know what you love can do for a person. I know that the love of many people in my life has gotten me through some very difficult battles that I absolutely would have lost and given up without that love. Be kind to others, you never know what they are going through, and you never want to be the person that pushes anyone over the edge. Life is hard enough without us being critical of each other. Let's love each other and build each other up instead.
I love this quote:
“If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each man's life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility”
-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
I loved this post Kelli. It's so true. We never know what battles people are fighting, and we never getting over the loss of a loved one.
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