"A woman is like a tea bag. You never know how strong she is until she gets into hot water."-Eleanor Roosevelt.
Strength is a word that only has meaning in dictionaries until we are faced with situations in which we are called to rely on our inner strength to stay afloat. We think we know how strong we are, however, most of us do not fully realize our own resilience until life brings the unexpected or the expected that we fear to even imagine. Usually, individuals assure themselves they would not be able to survive, withstand, or cope with extreme pain and extreme fear, however, many of us have inner strength that is only unleashed on the face of adversity, and is there for us to use, sometimes effortlessly.
Two weeks ago the person I knew all my life as my father passed away. I had been dealing with health issues a couple of weeks before his death, so lets just say it had been a less than pleasurable beginning of 2007 even before this trying time. I had been thinking for a while how would my father pass and how would I be able to deal with his physical absence. Well, I don’t have to wonder anymore. My father’s passing was fast, but I cannot say it was unexpected. Our only certainty as humans is that our physical bodies will cease to exist at some point in our lives, whether we allow ourselves to think about it or not. When our loved ones leave their physical forms we are left with deep pain and sorrow that can be devastating. Many of us, though, are able to rely on a strength that comes from a source that is pure and stronger than we are to make our life ongoing, happier, and one worth celebrating even more, even after an event that causes us so much affliction. I grieve my father’s passing because I will miss his smile, voice, touch, the way he always looked at me and how his sight filled up with light every time he saw me, and the loving words I kept hearing from him for 35 years. He was the man who has loved me the most, and because of him I learned how to love. This is a happy sadness as I remember my time in this earth with him, and I will live the rest of my life celebrating his life.
Now I know the meaning of the word strength.
Two weeks ago the person I knew all my life as my father passed away. I had been dealing with health issues a couple of weeks before his death, so lets just say it had been a less than pleasurable beginning of 2007 even before this trying time. I had been thinking for a while how would my father pass and how would I be able to deal with his physical absence. Well, I don’t have to wonder anymore. My father’s passing was fast, but I cannot say it was unexpected. Our only certainty as humans is that our physical bodies will cease to exist at some point in our lives, whether we allow ourselves to think about it or not. When our loved ones leave their physical forms we are left with deep pain and sorrow that can be devastating. Many of us, though, are able to rely on a strength that comes from a source that is pure and stronger than we are to make our life ongoing, happier, and one worth celebrating even more, even after an event that causes us so much affliction. I grieve my father’s passing because I will miss his smile, voice, touch, the way he always looked at me and how his sight filled up with light every time he saw me, and the loving words I kept hearing from him for 35 years. He was the man who has loved me the most, and because of him I learned how to love. This is a happy sadness as I remember my time in this earth with him, and I will live the rest of my life celebrating his life.
Now I know the meaning of the word strength.
8 comments:
Este espacio es una exelente muestra de la mujer latinoamericana dentro de la extranjera (pero forzada) cultura alglosajona que nos rodea. Se nutre de varios "posts" muy interesantes (aunque no coincido con varios de ellos)que reflejan mucho mas que el punto de la autora... sino que (a menudo) el el sentir del colectivo q con frecuencia se mantiene en silencio. Keep on going U
CBRN NCO
if the woman is like a tea bag, the man is like the water?
Your father was blessed to have a daughter like you. You are right about the people that leave us, they live inside us.
Pasaba a dejar un abrazo repleto de energía y decirte que regrese...
MentesSueltas
Yo lo queria ucho tambien,,, el me dio amor, y fue real,,, algo que absente cuando nina, y tu lo sabes bien te quiero mucho hermana
My condolences regarding the loss of your father. This thought helped me when my mom moved on. - Grief is love. Embrace the love and be joyous you are so blessed to know the riches your grief represents. - Peace and comport to your heart, your soul and your family. rl
I love this quote about the teabag. I think it´s true: we don't know how we will react till something happens and we are faced with it.
Sometimes we read about people who did extraordinary things to save other people or to help them in catastrophes such as a train accident or a terrorist attack and they say they don´t consider themselves heroes. They don´t know how they found the courage and the strength to act like that. And it´s probably true: they didn´t know they had that strength till the moment came and they didn´t even had time to think, just did what they thought they had to do.
My deepest sympathies and I leave you with a poem by Pablo Neruda I read at my uncle's funeral:
"Si muero sobrevíveme con tanta fuerza pura
que despiertes la furia del pálido y del frío,
de sur a sur levanta tus ojos indelebles,
de sol a sol que suene tu boca de guitarra.
No quiero que vacilen tu risa ni tus pasos,
no quiero que se muera mi herencia de alegría,
no llames a mi pecho, estoy ausente.
Vive en mi ausencia como en una casa.
Es una casa tan grande la ausencia
que pasarás en ella a través de los muros
y colgarás los cuadros en el aire.
Es una casa tan transparente la ausencia
que yo sin vida te veré vivir
y si sufres, mi amor, me moriré otra vez."
Pasaba a dejar un fuerte abrazo, estoy con poco tiempo, pero quería saludar.
Estoy siempre.
MentesSueltas
Un abrazo y que tengas un buen fin de semana.
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