"Update"

I don't have any recent news on my little honey, but I carry her in my heart to all the new diocesan things I go to, and so of course people are always asking me how she's doing after I bring her name up in prayer... instead of being able to tell them, since I have no news, what I get is a deep, intimate sense of how they see her, what they love about her, how they have been touched by her.... which I then try to translate somehow into a supportive email to her since I don't know whether they'll drop her a note, or not. (I'm going to tuck a few blank cards in my purse so they can jot a quick item down for me to send along.)

And what I am coming to see is that you just have to be willing to feel all the pain of the potential loss, and all the joy of having had the privilege of loving someone before they go, to be willing to be dragged along on their amazing journey without being too heavy to come along.

You have to know it will hurt when you leave your heart open enough so that it can also feel the joyful side of that journey.

I have a new way of knowing and respecting those of my Mudcat pals who have learned that ahead of me.

~Susan