31 Days of Gratitude: Loss

I was talking to a friend about loss the other day.

We've experienced lots of that in the past few months. 
The variety has been striking. 
From traumatic, to mysterious, to sudden and shocking, 
to swift and sacred 
because everyone was so lovingly present.

But the loss we were discussing is of the variety that accompanies so-called terminal illness. 

The uncertainty. The hope. The fear. The denial. 
The interventions. The dreadful anticipation.

It is difficult to cope with.

How do you walk with the knowledge of the probabilities...

right next to genuine openness to the possibilities...

all while accepting 
and treasuring 
this very moment as it is?

It is a tall order.

It calls for gentleness with one another 

...for we are likely to stumble and be awkward with it.

Perhaps ultimately all that really matters
is whether we stumble with love.

...

I am grateful for each moment, for each breath that I draw.

I am grateful for the resilience that allows us to face life each day in all its beauty and uncertainty.

I am thankful for a vulnerable heart that asks me to open wide to the mystery of life.