On Love & Dying

I'm sure many people would find it odd that it would take the death of a horse to motivate me to write a post about love and dying. Maybe it is strange, I don't know. Strange because I lost my Dad this year and an Uncle just a couple of days ago and neither of those incidents led to a post specifically dealing with the subject of dying. The bottom line is that the grief brought about from losing my Dad is still raw and hasn't been easy to talk about even though I will always choose to believe that he is in a better place and he was ready to go when he did. As far as my Uncle Ronnie, I am also comforted by the fact that he has a very strong faith and he had many good years in spite of health issues for many years.

The reality is that we are all going to die at some time and rather than mourn I want, to the best of my ability, to celebrate the persons life. When my high school coach died suddenly at the age of 69 I was sad but I was also OK with the fact that he died doing what he loved and he had lived a full life. My son-in-law's grandmother just passed away at 92 and again while people were sad at her passing they celebrated her long life and loving family that she left.

These are just a few of the recent losses that have impacted me and my family and each time it hurts. I would never try to minimize how painful losing someone or something that you love is but I do believe that at least in my case, it helps to believe that they are in a good place. Some would say a better place but I choose to simply believe a different good place. I say something because it is just as painful in its own way to lose animals that you love. There has been a lot of that in our family recently as well and today we said goodbye to Brown, a family member for over 25 years.

While I was running this morning I knew that I wanted to do this post as a tribute to Brown but also as a chance to share my feelings on dying. I hope that I have many years left to live but if I were to die today I would want everyone to know that it's ok. I'm not afraid of death and overcoming that fear after a brush with it has made me enjoy and appreciate each day and life in general more than ever. Don't get me wrong, I'm in no hurry for it to happen but I also have faith in the fact that we don't simply die and that's the end of it. People who know me well know that I am a Christian and that I claim Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. That belief gives me the comfort that I need to enjoy life while at the same time not fearing death.

My sister Donna did a photo tribute to Brown on her Facebook and the results were beautiful. People who are now grown but who learned to ride on Brown called her to thank her for their memories of Brown. Is there a better way for man or animal to be remembered than that you had a positive impact on people's lives? I can't think of one.

So with all that being said, I hope that if you read this you take some time to think about your own life and those around you. Are you doing as much as you can to enjoy life in your present circumstance? And are you doing what you can to make the lives of others more full? Neither of those are necessarily easy but I believe that they are certainly worthy goals.

If you are reading this you are probably someone that I love and I wish you a wonderful day and a wonderful life. I also wish for you the courage  and the strength to positively impact the lives of others no matter your differences.