Enjoy life.

[whatagain]

This day, 2 years ago a friend of mine called me to announce that her daughter died in a car crash.
She was 20 or so.
I had known her from childhood. A lovely baby, then a lovely girl, a lovely teenager developing into a lovely woman.
Now she is gone. Her name is Emilie.
I loved her. She is the last of children whom I loved or loved their parents who passed away recently. Fortunately she is the last.
I've been to too may children's funerals or heard about too many.
Robin, not yet 13, then Sophie, just 13, Justine, 10, Quentin, 13, Matéo, 6, Niagara 13, Emilie, 20 ...
I'm not that old (but still !) but I wish I could have gone instead of any of those.

But I'm here. Still. Not a bad guy, not a extraordinary one either... somebody who can disappear and the world would not be worse off.. like so many.

So today, I just want to say : enjoy your life. We're fortunate to live, let us get the best out of it. For us, for all those children who will never be as old as we are.
A special thought for Emilie, who is 'celebrating' her second year there, above , somewhere... with our son, Robin, who will live eternally in our hearts...
      If any of you is a believer, just have a few words for these children. 
And for all of us, let us enjoy life !!!!!!

 Bless you all, have a good day.

[htmb]

Wise words to remember, Pariswat.

We adults are not supposed to bury our children, or the children of our friends. Those children are supposed to live long, happy lives and to certainly outlive us.

Losing a young person changes your life forever.

[Deleted]

I had a second cousin who died in a car crash at age 19. He was the "best" of 5 sons in the family and he adored his grandparents who adored him back. They lived in the same village and the first thing that he would do every morning was to go and see them. Until one morning he did not show up.

He has one of those graves with an etched photo on the tombstone. He never ages.

Those are good thoughts, pariswat.

[bixaorellana]

Very beautiful but tear-provoking thoughts, Pariswat. Of all the losses we can suffer, I would think the loss of a child would be the hardest, the most cruel.

But a reminder to live and to enjoy life, especially from someone who has known loss, if valuable and appreciated, so thank you Pariswat.

[Deleted]

Lovely thoughts, very well put, PW. Thank you.

[lagatta]

Pariswat, while I do have friends and relatives who have lost children, you really seem to have a very dire tally (for someone living in a peaceful and prosperous place).

Yes, we should enjoy life while we can, though there are of course other reasons (serious illness, dire poverty) that make life not much to enjoy.

I've been thinking of an old friend whose death has been announced but not confirmed, in Morocco. He was a political prisoner and torture survivor from there, and he and his wife made a new life here and have successfully raised three brilliant young girls/women. But he returned there after the breath of democratisation.

I heard this from another friend, and don't feel comfortable phoning or e-mailing his wife (separated but not divorced/widow). I'm just feeling very strange, and have a lot of problems of my own these days, due to funding cuts.