What Can We Leave Behind?

Hello all my blog readers. Sorry for the delay in posts on the blog. Right aftrer the last post I was rushed to the hospital for emergency heart surgery.  I’m now in recovery and doing well. However, to be so close to the end of life does have a sobering effect.

I’d like to hear if anyone else has had a moment when they thought life might end.  Were you satisfied that you had done your best?  I remember being happy that I would leave behind loving children. Glad that love would pass on to another generation. I felt like a conduit, having received so much love during my life from my parents and others which hopefully I had passed on.  Love is something one can leave behind, as my mother, Dolly, did, enriching generations to come.

12 thoughts on “What Can We Leave Behind?

  1. So glad to hear that you’re recovered from that scary incident, Jane.

    I have not had such an experience, but it’s a topic that’s come up in conversation a lot lately – as recently as lunch yesterday. We agreed that none of us knows how much time we have. We could live to a ripe old age or be hit by a truck in ten minutes. The take away from our conversations is the need to appreciate each moment and to do those things that sing in our hearts NOW, not later. Not always easy to do, but being aware is the first step.

    1. Thanks Carol. Appreciating each moment is so easy to forget as the details of daily life distract us.

      I have returned to your book, Go Away Home, and I am enjoying it very much. Your characters are so well defined. The theme is similar to Dolly, Her Story.

  2. Jane, you are a heroine in my eyes – someone who spreads love and grace with your every comment. I’m grateful for our long friendship and mutual understanding!

    Love is it! I was lucky to have been born within a family filled with love and warmth and caring for others. My parents, my maternal grandmother, my aunts and uncles on both sides, my sister — all gave generously to me of their attention, encouragement, and personal spirits. I honor them in my heart and hope I have passed along at least a modicum of their love to my own children, nieces and nephews, and others within the family circle. More importantly, I pray I have shed light and love on an ever widening circle of friends, church and community members, and more. The older I get, the more old hurts, disappointments, criticisms and
    disagreements disappear and are replaced by lessons learned and an inner sense of the universal gift of love.

    I wish you the very best, Jane – both in health and in happiness – as you continue your story through life!
    Love, Ames

    1. Dear Ames, You have spread love in all the different parts of your life, your home and family, your friends and certainly in your work. The sharing of laughter in your work is one of your most caring and healing expressions of love.

      I am so grateful to have known you.

  3. Jane,

    I’m so glad you have recovered from your “close call.”

    My closest brush with death came after the natural childbirth we had prepared for in 1976 went awry and I had to be given general anesthesia and my son extracted from my body through the use of forceps and tearing. I heard one doctor scolding another as I went under ether, and I thought. “This might be the last time I see the world.” I felt peaceful about that possibility, which was a comfort to me in some of the darker times of my life which came later. My son survived and is now 38 years old. And I’ve made it to age 66. I’m grateful for my life, his life, and YOUR life. May you enjoy good health and long life. God bless.

    1. Dear Shirley, I’m so glad you survived a very painful and scary experience, and the reward, your son, is now 38 years old. Think what you would have missed.

      Interesting that you felt “peaceful” at contemplating death. I had the same experience. Actually I felt very depressed for awhile after finding out I was alive but didn’t know if I would get back to normal. But that passed and life is fun and exciting again.

  4. Jane, it’s wonderful to see an update on your blog and to hear that you are doing well. You have been missed!

    The caring and love you have for others shows in all you do and say. From the time I first met you, this has been my experience. I feel very fortunate to know you.

    I’ve not had the experience you mentioned, but my husband has. Almost losing him brought home the reality of how fragile life is and how important it is that everyone who touches our lives knows that we love and care about them. To leave behind the warmth of love and laughter shared when my family and friends think of me would be all I ask.
    Love and light,
    Karen

    1. Dear Karen, How good to hear from you.

      Losing someone you love can be worse than facing death yourself. I’m so glad it didn’t happen. I’m also glad you mentioned laughter. It seems to me that laughing together is an affirming expression of love and caring.

      You have been such a delight to know. I hope to see youy all again soon.

  5. I’ve always tried to live my live without regret. Of course, that’s not really possible. There is always something… but I try to tell myself often that if I should die tonight or tomorrow, I lived my life as best I could and did the best I could.

    Especially now as I head into my 60s I want to feel that I am OK. These past few years have had ups and downs, but I can look back and say that I was finally able to do things that I wanted to do. I am thankful for that.

    I am certainly not ready to die, but if life is taken from me, I want to be able to be satisfied. I am, really. However, I still have a lot of living to do… I hope, ha ha.

    1. You are amazing Sasha. So brave to travel south alone, enjoy the trip, learn much and write about it.

      You are right. You still have a lot of living to do. Enjoy the trip.

  6. Jane — You certainly had all of us scared! Glad you are on the mend! Although I didn’t have a near-death experience, I had a life-changing experience when my thyroid was so out of whack that I was non functional and felt “half dead.” Finding a doctor who was able to help me feel better than I ever have really made me appreciate all that life has to offer and make some big changes in my life, dropping the constant worrying about things I have no control over, deciding not to let my fears rule my life, realizing how precious life is … I could go on and on. Suffice to say, I remind myself every day that every day is a gift, and I endeavor to live each day to the fullest.

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