Live your “first life” well.

On November 1st, when I went to visit my daughter at the cemetery, her final earth home, I said some prayers for her soul and then had a little talk with her. I told her how her children were doing. I talked about our family and our healing in the year since she went to her Eternal Home. And when I finished, I told her as I was tearfully walking away from her gravestone, “Tobi, your spirit lives on in each of us.”

I read a book recently that talks about two deaths. The first death is when one dies. The second death is when one who has passed away is forgotten. I believe it is important for us to never forget those who have gone before us. Each life has lessons to teach us. Those lessons become the second life of the one whose physical body has passed on. Every time we make ourselves in some way better because of those lessons we learned from our loved ones, that person’s soul lives on through us.

Many of you wrote on my blog about my last article about Tobi. You wanted to know more about what caused her passing. She battled Lupus for 20 years. She took medications that kept her alive but caused her bones to shatter and break. She had many surgeries and took many pain pills. She took so many pain pills that she had to join a support group to learn how to stop. She became an active member of that support group helping others who suffered those same battles to overcome them. Her body wore out, but her spirit did not. She had good days emotionally and she had days that were rougher, but her spirit was strong. The strong-willed child she was as a child became a strong-willed adult in her battle with illness. A friend gave her a small coffee table for her home the last month. She hit her foot on the table and got a staph infection. She was in the hospital for two more weeks, had another surgery, and then was sent home with IV antibiotics and a pump to remove the bacteria from her foot. She was getting better, and then her time had come. One morning, she did not wake up. When her husband found her, she had a smile on her face. She had gone home. She was at peace. Her first life was over. Now it was time for our family to heal so her second life could begin in the memories and hearts of all of us who loved her.

So my message to you today is to live “your first life” to the fullest. Give extra warmth and kindness to others, and never forget to take care of yourself too. Who you are, makes a difference.

With a caring heart to you wonderful difference makers.

Maryln