She is ready.
For what you ask?
For The End.
Is it? Is it really?
Is there ever an end to anything?
Or does it go on, but merely in another form?
Such questions have plagued many throughout the centuries.
Is there life afterwards?
After what?
What we have now?
Shouldn’t what we are given here and now be enough?
At this moment, my family is dealing with an older member who has decided she is ready. And yes, it is just what you think. But, perhaps, it is not – especially if you think this means she has given up.
Has she? No, and a very resounding “no” at that.
But she is ready.
Her life has been long, and very full. She met her husband of nearly 60 years while serving in World War II. They had a family, who’ve had families of their own, who are now starting a new generation. Each one has brought her satisfaction and joy. Her faith has never wavered. Even now, when the body is so weak, that which she believes in remains constant.
She is ready.
But we are not. She has been our constant. Always arranging suppers on Sundays. Phoning distant friends and family regularly in order remain connected and show how much she cares. One time, when she did not call, we knew instantly that something was wrong. Luckily that something turned out to be a receiver knocked off the hook.
She is ready.
Life has been enough for her – this life. Now there are those who will note that her faith professes there will be an afterwards, a glory and a peace well deserved for one such as her. But no one knows, not really. In my heart though, I do believe that there is a better place that awaits, and she of all people should be welcome.
She is ready.
Even if we are not.
Has she reached an end?
No, as long as there are those of us who remember.
No, as long as she is satisfied as to where she’s been and where she is going.
No, as long as the end of this journey is met with complete acceptance.
No, as long as there is an understanding that this is how it is supposed to be.
There is an end. It waits there for us all. We cannot change the inevitable, only how we approach it.
She is ready.
And I will miss her.
And I will mourn.
And I will know it was her decision.
And I will be happy knowing that she met her end with dignity and grace, and that to honor her I should remember this always: that it is not when, but how we face our final moments that count.
She is ready.
And it’s okay.
