 | 
Letting Go
To "let go" does not mean to stop caring. It means I can't do it for someone else.
To "let go" is not to cut myself off. It's the realization that I can't control another.
To "let go" is to admit powerlessness, which means the outcome is not in my hands.
To "let go" is not to try to change or blame another. It's to make the most of myself.
To "let go" is not to care for, but to care about.
To "let go" is not to fix, but to be supportive.
To "let go" is not to judge, but to allow another to be a human being.
To "let go" is not to be in the middle, arranging all the outcomes, but to allow others to affect their own destinies.
To "let go" is not to deny, but to accept.
To "let go" is not to nag, scold, or argue, but instead to search out my own shortcomings and correct them.
To "let go" is not to adjust everything to my desires, but to take each day as it comes and cherish myself in it.
To "let go" is not to regret the past, but to grow and live for the future.
To "let go" is to fear less and to love more.
--Author Unknown
Ode to my Lost Son Who Was Never Conceived
Jacob Brandon, child of my heart.
You have never drawn a breath,
Your heart will never beat,
Yet for two years within my heart
And dreams you lived.
I dreamed of you
With eyes of light green-brown
Just like your Daddy's.
Would your hair have been as mine?
Or like his? Wavy, blond and brown.
Now I'll never know.
Never born you were ripped from my arms.
I'll never have the chance to hold you,
But forever I'll hold the memory of my
Dreams of you.
Buried within my heart of broken dreams
That will never be.
Sep.2.1997 - Rebekah Staggs
| | The Dash
I read of a man who stood to speak
at the funeral of a friend.
He referred to the dates on her tombstone
from the beginning....to the end.
He noted that first came the date of her birth;
the date that followed brought tears.
But he said what mattered most of all
was the dash between those years.
That dash represents all of the time
that she spent alive on earth...
Now only those who loved her,
know what that little line is worth.
For it matters not, how much we own;
the cars... the house... the cash.
What matters is how we live and love
and how we spend our dash.
So think about this long and hard...
are there things you'd like to change?
For you never know how much time is left,
(You could be at "dash mid-range")
If we could just slow down enough
to consider what's true and real
and always try to understand
the way other people feel.
To be less quick to anger
and show appreciation more.
To love the people in our lives
like we've never loved before.
We'd treat each other with respect,
and more often wear a smile.
Remembering that this special dash
will only last a while.
When your eulogy is being read
with you life's actions to rehash...
Would you be proud of the things they say
about how you spent YOUR dash?
(author unknown) 
Please See Me Through My Tears
You asked, "How am I doing?"
As I told you, tears came to my eyes...
and you looked away and quickly began to talk again.
All the attention you had given me drained away.
"How am I doing?"...I do better when people listen,
though I may shed a tear or two.
This pain is indescribable.
If you've never known it you cannot fully understand.
Yet I need you.
When you look away,
When I'm ignored,
I am again alone with it
Your attention means more than you can ever know.
Really, tears are not a bad sign, you know!
They're nature's way of helping me to heal...
They relieve some of the stress of sadness.
I know you fear that asking how I'm doing brings me sadness
...but you're wrong.
The memory of my loved one's death will always be with me,
Only a thought away.
My tears make my pain more visible to you, but you did not
give me the pain...it was already there.
When I cry, could it be that you feel helpless, not knowing
what to do?
You are not helpless,
And you don't need to do a thing but be there.
When I feel your permission to allow my tears to flow,
you've helped me
You need not speak. Your silence as I cry is all I need.
Be patient...do not fear.
Listening with your heart to "how I am doing"
relieves the pain,
for when the tears can freely come and go, I feel lighter.
Talking to you releases what I've been wanting to say aloud,
clearing space
for a touch of joy in my life.
I'll cry for a minute or two...
and then I'll wipe my eyes,
and sometimes you'll even find I'm laughing later.
When I hold back the tears, my throat grows tight,
my chest aches, my stomach knots...
because I'm trying to protect you from my tears.
Then we both hurt...me, because my pain is held inside,
a shield against our closeness...and you,
because suddenly we're distant.
So please, take my hand and see me through my tears...
then we can be close again.
by Kelly Osmont
| |
