Crying can be beautiful...

I have a picture in my mind... as beautiful as a Teardrop.

Two elderly people have been struck age and sickness quite all of a sudden. The man has to be helped to do everything, needs help to stand and to walk to his disgust. He has always depended on the presence of his wonderful wife as a companion and help-meet. She has been found to be sick, and her health is such that even trying to treat what is treatable is impossible until she can lay down, stand up and breath better. She keeps getting admitted into the hospital even when she thinks she might be improving. The two of them see each other, having spent a week apart, a hard, revealing week apart, and they hold each other and cry. They hold each other.

I am crying. I love them both so much. They have led beautiful lives, and it seems so unfair to face so much all at once! I don't know if they can see how much they have meant to their families in the middle of this pain. I don't know if they care how great the legacy that they have given us is, and it IS great. Every time I hear a squirrel scolding I think of walks I took with Grandma. Every time I smell Earl Grey I am with her. Every steak I broil will be with skill I learned from her, every biscuit, every homemade Clam Chowder. Every time I think of their phone number I remember the phone number to the old Thriftway store Grandpa owned. He was my first boss and taught me to never steal and to treat others with respect and honor, while enjoying people. I could go on and on about all the Holiday gatherings at their house and the tree that had so many gifts under it, they took up half the huge living room. They bought more than they needed for every fund raiser from all the grandkids and great-grandkids. Maybe we should share with them how Thankful we are for what they've done and been for us all these years... but who wants to imply their legacy is drawing near an end? Oh, I wish they could continue living as they have, together.

This mental picture is so beautiful... I hold them in my heart as they hold each other, and I cry with them as I pray that they can both return home soon for more, good, healthy days.