Forgive

It just hit me how quickly someone’s life can end. How in mere milliseconds their existence can disappear. All the things you wished you’d said to them, done for them, forgave them for, been with them through. Everything stops. The cursor on a page stops typing and just flashes on and off the screen. Over and over and over. I never really thought about how quickly death can happen. It catches you off guard when you’re least expecting it. Sneaking up on you. Or maybe you do expect it, maybe you’ve prepared. Regardless, it's the end. I don’t know what it’s the end of, or if there’s another part after the end. But that’s the truth. The people around them, the people who love them, feel empty. Regretting the things they could’ve done when they were alive. One second they’re there, the next they’re not. Everything stops all at once, like a bus slamming on its breaks for a red light. Maybe it teaches us something. But that I’m not sure of. It could teach us to say what we want to say and forgive and do the things we want to do with them, because the next day, hour, second, they could cease to exist. Maybe that’s what it teaches us. Loss is complicated. In many ways. You don’t know what it’s like, but then all of sudden you do. Like a weight landing on your shoulders. But I think in order to accept that loss, you need to forgive. Forgive them for letting life slip from their grasp. Forgive the people around you for not always living up to your expectations. Forgive yourself for the things you could have said, done, been. Maybe we all just need to learn how to forgive a little. I think that would take us a long way.