The Importance of Saying Goodbye
As beautiful and colourful life can be, there always come days when our world turns grey and miserable. They're the days we all dread yet need them to come, so we can appreciate what we have and what we've been given. In case you haven't guessed it so far, I'm talking of the days you lose a loved one.
Experiencing the death of a loved one is something everyone in this life will have to face at some point and although some of us try to prepare for it, we are completely and utterly at a loss when it actually happens.
I have always been the kind of person who dealt with Death in a very restrained way. I would be the rock others expected me to be, the kind shoulder for them to cry on and then, in a solitary, very personal moment I would allow my feelings to overwhelm me and the tears to run down my cheeks. Alone. So that no one else sees me and fears I'm breaking down.
At the start of this year, not too long after my birthday, my grandmother passed away. She was blessed to go painlessly, six years after her husband, my granddad, died on the exact same day. I can only hope he was the one who came to take her away on her last trip. She was the last of my grandparents and the one I look so much alike (seriously, I don't look that much like my parents as I do to my nan).
I certainly wasn't prepared at all when I was told of the news, but the worst part was that I was away in a different country and there were no flights I could take to be back home in time for the funeral. I was devastated. There was no way for me to say goodbye from where I was.
After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, I finally travelled back to Greece to visit my family. I had set my priorities straight from day one. No matter what happened, I had to go to my nan. I had to say goodbye, to have some form of closure. And I did. On my way there it started raining, a light rain, lasted only a few minutes. And for a moment I knew it was my nan crying tears of joy to see me.
I don't know how important saying goodbye is to other people, but to me it meant the world. It set my mind in peace, helped me see my life clearer and even share a last moment with her, although I know she wasn't really there. Thing is, she will always be here for me, in my thoughts, in my memories, in my life. She was, is and will be such a big part of me until I'm gone.
You're probably wondering why I decided to share something as personal as this with you. Well, my nan's death shook me to the core and taught me one thing the hardest, yet most effective way possible. There is no time to waste, because life can slip through your fingers in less than a fleeting moment. And if living every moment means you need to change, then go ahead and change without being afraid of doing so. Life itself will reward you in the process.
I miss you a lot nan.
At the start of this year, not too long after my birthday, my grandmother passed away. She was blessed to go painlessly, six years after her husband, my granddad, died on the exact same day. I can only hope he was the one who came to take her away on her last trip. She was the last of my grandparents and the one I look so much alike (seriously, I don't look that much like my parents as I do to my nan).
I certainly wasn't prepared at all when I was told of the news, but the worst part was that I was away in a different country and there were no flights I could take to be back home in time for the funeral. I was devastated. There was no way for me to say goodbye from where I was.
After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, I finally travelled back to Greece to visit my family. I had set my priorities straight from day one. No matter what happened, I had to go to my nan. I had to say goodbye, to have some form of closure. And I did. On my way there it started raining, a light rain, lasted only a few minutes. And for a moment I knew it was my nan crying tears of joy to see me.
I don't know how important saying goodbye is to other people, but to me it meant the world. It set my mind in peace, helped me see my life clearer and even share a last moment with her, although I know she wasn't really there. Thing is, she will always be here for me, in my thoughts, in my memories, in my life. She was, is and will be such a big part of me until I'm gone.
You're probably wondering why I decided to share something as personal as this with you. Well, my nan's death shook me to the core and taught me one thing the hardest, yet most effective way possible. There is no time to waste, because life can slip through your fingers in less than a fleeting moment. And if living every moment means you need to change, then go ahead and change without being afraid of doing so. Life itself will reward you in the process.
I miss you a lot nan.
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