To whom it may concern

This is something I wrote a while back... early last year actually.

The more people you know in this life, the more you will see leave life. It is a realization that dawned upon me over the weekend. As we lay to rest a person I've known since I was eight years old, I found myself wondering about the circle. This was the second parent of a friend to leave the world.

What last thoughts ran through her mind as the light from her eyes faded.Were they of regret? Leaving behind something you hold dear to the heart is never something easy to do. I cannot imagine the immensity of leaving an entire world. The thought of relinquishing everything sends jolts of shivers into my spine. More so, the lost of the endless possibilities that life allows us.What about the things in life that we will never taste, feel or say? What of the experiences we will never enjoy? The obligations we have to others and more importantly to those we love. The line ‘I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep’ comes immediately to mind.

She must have been very sad,knowing that her cycle was at an end.But, what would you give up to remain here? What kind of discomforts will you endure to see the love in the eyes of those that are precious to you? For how long?Do we choose when we depart, or does fate overwhelm us and snatch even that basic choice from us?And yet, perhaps her thoughts were one of relief.

‘The world is a cruel, cruel place,’ as someone dear to my heart once said, and still often says. To live is to feel and to feel is to endure discomfort and pain from time to time. Perhaps she felt a freedom that we can never experience in this world. That all the burdens were lifted from her shoulders as she closed her eyes for that very last time.

Perhaps when we are born, we do no cry out to hail our births. Perhaps we cry out to mark the beginning of a cycle that will see others cry out as the cycle ends.How many cycles will we see end before our own expires, I wonder. It is not a pleasant thought.

Regardless, I just thought I'd take this one moment,and tell you all that I'm grateful you've been, and I hope will be, a part of my life and share my grief and thoughts with you. Most importantly, that I love you guys. We've got a long way ahead of us people. But heck… you guys make life worth looking forward to.

One love,

Vince