Sad

Away at retreat, we got the news that a member of the community, a woman who has played her harp and laughed and cried with the rest of us over the fifteen years of this summer intensive has lost her husband. I had heard about his illness and in the short time he was in intensive care, sent her all sorts of unasked for tips for managing life in critical care hospital rooms, waiting for our beloved mates to recover. I remember too well the hospital time with Steve. She did not get the happy ending Steve and I had, and I'm so sad for her. So sad for the grief she and her children will have to go through and so sad, knowing that no one can spare them any moment of hurt, only one hopes, make it easier to bear. I hope when those decisions and passages come to our own family, we can act with as much courage and compassion as she did.