Words of Wisdom

One of my best friends ever, Michelle, suffered one of life’s great tragedies in May of last year—the untimely death of her husband.  I was at her side every moment possible for days and weeks afterwards as she tried to sort out her life and figure out “what do I do now?”  The best advice I could give her was what had gotten me through when my own husband passed away three years earlier.  “You breathe in; you breathe out, and keep putting one foot in front of the other.
 Sympathy calls and cards poured in, but I walked in on a Saturday morning and she handed me one from my son and said read this.  The standard verse was nice and my son had added his own words of regret, but then added these words of wisdom for coping, “To quote Winston Churchill ‘When you’re going through hell, don’t look back’ chin up”
 I looked up and for the first time in days a smile broke through on her face.
 “Leave it to Jason, to get right to the heart of things.  That’s exactly what I have to do.”
 Two days later I heard this song and immediately thought of Jason’s card and Michelle.  The song became a special link between us as I helped her face the seemingly unending paperwork and calls that followed.  I will never hear this song without thinking of the days first I spent then Michelle spent coping with and learning to live with the deaths of our respective spouses