The torture we feel when we have been spared, only to watch with despair as our loved one is taken.
It is most often associated with a traumatic or accidental death. Perhaps pancreatic cancer death doesn't rank high up on that list, but it comes with plenty of guilt and torture for those left behind...
Survivor's Guilt. Yes, it haunts deep for those who grieve.
This past week I watched an interview with the mother of a marine who had been killed by a roadside bomb in Afganistan.
Heartache unimaginable. Tears spilled as I felt her pain, but it was what she said near the end of the story that has staying power...
Might you spend a moment or two and be lifted by this mother's journey?
Marines from her son's platoon were there in the audience opening night, and when asked what she hoped they would take away from the recital, she said,
"I hope they will stop wishing that they had been the one that died. I hope that they will say I need to make the most of my life because I was spared and I am meant to do good things.
Every death helps those of us who are left behind to come together, to reach out to each other, to love each other better. It is sad that sometimes we have to grieve in order to love better, but it is true."
~ Amy Wolfe
Profound words from a mother's grieving heart. So true.
Are you there in the midst of your own Survivors Guilt? It may have been cancer that took your loved one, or a car accident, or a roadside bomb in some faraway foreign land... leaving you to feel as if you are navigating grief's raging waters all alone...
Perhaps Amy Wolfe's story will touch a chord within. Listen well, and take to heart her admonition...
I hope you will stop wishing that you had been the one that died.
I hope that you will say,
I need to make the most of my life
because I was spared,
and I am meant to do good things.
Rest in the Grace that Redeemed your Life for Good.
Our loved ones would want nothing less than this for us... to live our best life as we walk on in the journey without them. We do so ever mindful of the gift we have been given, for this life is so very, very precious.
Let's not waste one moment... Thank you Amy for this beautiful tribute to your son. You have captured a memory vulnerable and removed the veil from grief. Might we all come alongside in love... Hearts are touched this night by your journey.
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