August 6--It Can Be Remarkable

When you lose a parent, you realize how vital they are to the foundation of your life. It's impossible to understand what it means until that curtain is pulled. You're an orphan. But then I think that life is kind of remarkable, and the thing that causes the biggest pain can also bring amazing energy.  --Neneh Cherry

    I am an orphan. I am totally onboard with the statement "It's impossible to understand what it means until that curtain is pulled." My spouses' parents are both alive and mostly well at 95. He has not had that "curtain pulled." 

    "Lose" does not necessarily mean death. I lost my dad to dementia before he actually passed, and there were several years wherein he did not know who I was. In some ways, that was worse than death. 

    The "amazing energy" part is also something I can speak to. My mom passed just before I turned 24, cutting me loose from a contentious relationship. My life would have been 100% different had my mother lived longer. I would not necessarily have had a bad life, but the life I have lived has had "amazing energy" and I would call it "remarkable."  

    One discovers one's own resources when the parents are no longer there to lean on. 

        Leta

Note the weirdness... my parents both died
on September 24.