Today has been quite a day.
Life and death.
I stood at my window and heard the children shouting and playing across the road. They climbed on the jungle gym and bubbled over with enthusiasm as their Dad kept an eye on them. A few minutes before, just yards away at their neighbour’s house, a hearse had driven up. Two solemn gentlemen entered the house. A short while later, they went back to their vehicle and bought in a trolley and disappeared again into the home. Fifteen minutes passed. The neighbours came out and watched as their loved one was wheeled to the car.
She was gone. The hearse drove slowly round the corner.
Many times I had seen her standing at the wall, looking over, watching the world go by. She was 90. A good age. A long life. Today it ended. Her family had been good to her. She died quietly at home with everyone around. It is how life is – that’s the right way for it to happen. You grow old and have a full life with children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren around you. Then you go the way of all the world. Yet the coldness and suddenness and finality of death never goes away.
This evening I phoned the neighbour and she told me how the last few weeks had been. It had not been easy, but now it’s over. Now they get used to the emptiness, the big gap left in their lives.
I was working at my desk when my cell phone rang. It was Riana. She came round for tea, explaining her beloved dog Tin Tin was at the vet on a drip and they were waiting for the results of blood tests. We sat and chatted for quite some time before the call from the vet came. It was all bad news. Tin Tin had stage 4 kidney failure. He was dying. The most humane thing would be to put him down right away. It was the hardest thing to hear and the hardest thing to do. We got in my car and drove to the vet and Riana held him while he gently and painlessly went to sleep.
Life and death.
The miseries of life come in different packages. Seeing this beautiful old boy slip away today was one of the hardest.
#619 of my 1000 thanks is for Tin Tin who gave love and was loved at the very end. There may be another dog, but never another Tin Tin. We will remember him.
Hebrews 2:18
Since He Himself has gone through suffering and testing, He is able to help us when we are being tested.
A wonderful reminder from my diary this Wednesday 4th April.
God is good.
These are the days.
Keep the smile going.
God bless you.
In His Grip,
Helga xx 🙂
Gym:
- Run: 2.5km in 15 minutes, 40 seconds.
- Cycle: 10km in 24:26.
- Swim: 30 lengths in about 23 minutes.