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| After the Rain Comes the Sun in Arlington Village* (Source) |
I started thinking about this post after reading earlier in the day that her prognosis was grim, gone before Thanksgiving in all likelihood. Sad to say, she made it only a few more hours.
Mike is one of those friends I've never met face to face. We belong to a number of common groups though. We are veterans, specifically Air Force veterans, both admirers of the mighty F-4 Phantom II, and admirers of the writings of Carroll LeFon, or Lex as we knew him when he was alive.
Although we've never met face to face, I call him friend. What's more, he's kinda like family, as are many others whom I've never met. Common interests, common experiences, common likes and dislikes, does one really need to meet someone face to face to call them "friend."
No.
There are others of my ken who I called friend long before I ever met them. Those I have met have invariably become close friends, family even. We share a bond.
Mike is like that.
I wish I knew for certain what comes after. After this life is over. I have had glimpses which I know, in my heart of hearts, to be real. As the Bard said...
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 5I feel there is something after, my religion tells me one thing, my experiences tell me another, but there is something.
And it's not bad. Not bad at all, but it too is not the end. There's more.
I guess we'll all just have to wait and see.
For now, I mourn the passing of a fellow traveler on this life's long journey.
Rest in peace Kathy.
Prayers for those you left behind.
Stay strong Mike. May you find peace.
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (KJV)
* While this photo did come up on a search for "What Comes After?," thus fitting where I was going with this post, I also fell in love with the photo because it reminds me of The Nuke's old neighborhood in Alexandria where she, The Missus Herself, and Your Humble Scribe spent many an hour walking our beloved grand-dogs, Bear and Kodi. Man, I miss that...
http://epistle.us/inspiration/iknowmymaster.html
ReplyDeleteMy condolences to your friend.
It got dusty in here when I chased that link.
DeleteThanks WSF.
You are welcome. I may read it at my cousin's service tomorrow.
DeleteI think that would be awesome.
DeleteWell said Brother.
ReplyDeleteThanks SoCal.
DeleteI've a number of friends never met, who brighten my day whenever I hear from them.
ReplyDeleteMy condolences to your friend, Mike.
May he know that, although it will always be different from here on, it gets better when you let it.
Yup.
DeleteFriends I've never met? I see 4 on this page so far.
ReplyDelete:)
DeleteMy condolences to your friend, Sarge.
ReplyDeleteMy grandmother passed Monday, at 89, after long suffering from Alzheimer's: by the end, she didn't know her own children.
My Dad died in '13, of lung cancer. At the end, I was relieved; not for me -- I hope I'll never get that selfish -- but for him, because he could finally stop fighting. He was always a fighter, as a paratrooper, in bars, and, after Ma brought out his better side, against the vicissitudes of life, & anything he thought was wrong. I owe a lot of the better parts of me to him.
I don't know what's next, but I believe there's Something. I call It "God", but that's a placeholder for the infinite, something we can't even grasp. I hope there are motorcycles, but I'll be fine if there aren't. Who's to say there won't be?
Fair winds and following seas, eternally, to Kathy, although I never met her. If Mike's a friend of yours, that's good enough.
--Tennessee Budd
Condolences Tennessee, and thanks.
DeleteMy condolences to you Anonymous, on the passing of your grandmother and to you Sarge, for the loss of your friends wife. They'll be in my prayers tonight.
ReplyDeleteThanks.
DeleteCondolences to WSF, and yes, I think he should read it at his cousin's service. And condolences to your wife, and Kathy's husband, and to Tennessee Bud. Talk about happening in sets of three!!
ReplyDeleteNow I need to go dust my house, it must really need it or else my allergies are really kicking up...between the Byrds and the dog...pass the tissues please...
Yup, dusty here too.
Delete