Fragility

Adding to the fragility of life around me, another person of significance has died in his sleep. The third person in my life in the past week. It would be more overwhelming if I participated in it. I stand back, however, and think of the living. The loved ones all three of these people have left behind. I also think of my friends, the ones I hold dear, and give thanks that they remain. The man who died last night, and his ex-wife, were the best friends of my parents when they were a young couple. They had children at the same time. Their daughter born a few months before myself and their son a month after my brother. To this day my brother and their son are the best of friends. They moved to the west, we moved to the west. We even lived with them for a short period while my parents found housing. Then we moved to a larger city within the same province and they did the same. Our families were very close. Then, over time, they stopped participating in my parents lives. They stopped engaging in the love. My parents were hurt. Their friendship drifted. My memories of my “Uncle” revolve around all of us children gathering in a closet and him shining a flashlight into his mouth and making his false teeth rattle around scaring the living cap out of each of us… then wanting more. I remember how much he looked like Mr. Bean. Then the memories fade. They become adult memories, the kind when adults stop being the ultimate rulers of your life and drift into the background of your experiences.

So, with all those people who have died this week, I give thanks for what they brought to my life. I ache for their families. I try to remember the best memories I have of each of them and I pray this is the last of my life that will die this week.