Sunday, September 11, 2011

And in the end...

Warning: this post gets sappy.

In the past week I have been to a funeral and a wedding. I can't really decide which one I preferred.

The wedding, of course, should be the clear winner. It had a bar and dancing. The only tears that were shed were tears of joy. They gave out favors, took pictures, and served fancy cake. It was a party.

There was little party atmosphere at the funeral. Sure, there was food. Lots of it, all very carby, and fattening. There wasn't a bar though, and definitely no dancing. There was lots of crying, but most of it was that ugly crying with shaking shoulders, hiccuping, and running noses. No favors were handed out. No pictures were taken. The cake wasn't very good, and it was from the grocery store.

For all the differences though, both had one thing is common: they were both about love. I think the funeral even more so than the wedding.

No, I am not saying that the bride and groom don't love each other. I'm sure they do. However, I don't think it can yet compare to the love I saw at the funeral. The love my uncle had for my aunt, that led him to nurse her through five years of cancer. The love her family and friends have to support her husband and sons now that she is gone, the same way they supported them through her illness. The love everyone in the church had for those around them, realizing that in just a second, the most important things in your life can be taken away, and how they should be treasured at all times, even after they are gone. There was so much love there it had me thinking about it all week, and now has me writing this post.

I hope we are all lucky enough to have love like that in our lives. Oh, and that we are smart enough to recognize and cherish it.

See, I told you. Sappy.

17 comments:

Riot Kitty said...

Awwww. I think you are right. That is true love.

LL Cool Joe said...

Definitely true love. When the going gets tough you find out what real love is.

G. B. Miller said...

Not in the least bit sappy.

Granny Annie said...

Not at all sappy and very powerful statement.

BugginWord said...

You actually gave me shivers. Stop it.

Rob said...

That was a good one ...

Melistress said...

And now I am crying at my desk. I'm sorry for the loss of your Aunt. Beautiful post.

Samantha said...

Not very sappy. You don't have the constitution for it. Beautiful post. And weird--I wrote a post this week with the same title.

Anonymous said...

Sappy but true. Sometimes sappy is good:)

justmakingourway said...

There's nothing wrong with sappy if the message is a good one.

Gina said...

So true. I'm sorry for your loss.

Jill VT said...

Dang, that was gorgeous, and not sappy at all.

for a different kind of girl said...

I love sappy. I could use a serious case of sappy. I'm talking I need a semi to back up into my garage and dump a pile of it there, and sure, I'm going to gripe about the mess, but inside, I need it and I'd be happy. Sappy is good.

Jen said...

Sappy isn't too bad sometimes. Besides, it's a great reminder of a good thing existing in the world just when I needed it. (now that was sappy)

Anonymous said...

That was just beautiful.

Anonymous said...

not sappy. beautifully written. And I'm so very sorry for your loss.

Anonymous said...

So very sorry for your loss, Libby. I attended a funeral recently too and felt struck by the same things.