People Pass Yet Love Lives On
Image by Michaela 💗 from Pixabay
Over the past year, I attended more wakes and funerals than ever, where I was a witness to grief and the pain of a multitude of broken hearts. While in line, waiting to offer condolences and pay respects, as anyone would expect, family members and friends talked about how much they were going to miss their loved ones. Countless times, I heard, “I loved her,” or “I loved him,” and it made me wonder why, when someone passes, the word love automatically shifts to past tense.
Love is eternal
They have indeed passed away and no longer physically walk beside us, but the love we have for them is still very much alive. It doesn’t die with them. Long after the grieving process is over, that love still exists deep within our hearts. And it has nothing to do with weakness or an inability to let go. It’s a unique love meant for only that person, and I believe we love them forever.
Our physical heart is finite, but our emotional heart is infinite.
Think about the amount of love we are capable of feeling for someone, and then multiply that by the number of people we love in our lifetime. Our capacity to love seems endless. Each love is real but different from the next because we don’t love everyone the same way. The love we feel for our children, grandchildren, spouses, parents, siblings, nieces, nephews, cousins, friends, and pets are all different, yet the same in many ways. All of that love for all of those people is in our hearts. And the amazing part is that there is always room for more.
The heart is also about compassion, courage, and determination.
Our emotional heart is where our will and spirituality reside. Our emotions can affect our physical heart, and our physical heart can affect us emotionally. Energetically, the heart chakra at the center of the chest, is considered a bridge between the body’s spiritual and physical energy. Where they connect. Grief makes our chest feel heavy because our heart is our center, physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
My sister, Ruth Ann, passed away on May 6, 1985, making this year the fortieth anniversary of her death. Forty years later, I still miss her every single day and I feel the same love that was in my heart when she was still alive. The love I feel is not because I cannot live without her—clearly, I have. The love is still there because of who she was, the impact she had on me, what she meant to me, and the relationship we built together. Ruth Ann died, but none of those things changed. My sister is in my heart and will be forever. May her memory, and the memories of all the people we love, be eternal.
Who do you still love?
Until next time,
Jean
AKA The Strategic Chicken - Making life’s journey one strategic step at a time.
