Tuesday, April 3, 2012

One fades out, one comes in

Some days come and go and you just try to take care of the tasks at hand, wrapped up in your busy world without much thought about what's going on elsewhere with other people.

But, when I have sweet leisure time or am stuck somewhere with nothing to do but think, my mind wanders. Sometimes I am just struck by the wonder of human life. What a miracle it is. How we get here. How we arrive here. Where we are before then. Where we go after this life.

Often, when someone leaves this world, it will make me wonder who entered the world that day. What will they be? What will they become?

And when a new child is born, I wonder who left he world that day? Who left, making room for that new being on this earth? What mark did they leave? What did they teach people? How did they touch people? What kind of example were they? What kind of void will they be leaving?

Two of my sons were born on days when someone significant left the world.

My oldest son (he'd be the tallest one in that photo below) was born on May 19, 1994. As he was being introduced to his new world after a long day of induced labor, Jacqueline Kennedy, who will forever symbolize grace, style and dignity, passed away.


Eleven years later, on April Fool's Day in 2005, I headed to the hospital sure that I'd have an April Fool's baby. Well, he fooled me. As the clock neared midnight, I knew he was going to be stubborn and hold out a little longer. He arrived a little after 1 a.m.

Earlier in the day, all news stations were focused on the condition of Pope John Paul II, which had been worsening. As I settled into my hospital room after my son was born in the wee hours of the morning and turned on the television, coverage continued. Later that day, it was announced that Pope John Paull II had died. As his life ended, this beautiful little creature entered the world.



1 comment:

Mel S. said...

I have often wondered the same thing myself. One of my dogs was actually born on the same date that my previous dog had died. It was like it was meant to be!