Death

My mom shared this quote with us Thanksgiving weekend.  We were all having a hard time missing Dad, and I appreciated this thought.

The death of a dear friend . . . which seemed nothing but privation, somewhat later assumes the aspect of a guide or genius; for it commonly operates revolutions in our way of life, terminates an epoch of infancy or of youth which was waiting to be closed, breaks up a wonted occupation, or a household, or style of living, and allows the formation of new ones more friendly to the growth of character . . . And the man or woman who would have remained a sunny garden flower, with no room for its roots and too much sunshine for its head, by the falling of the walls and the neglect of the gardener, is made the banyan of the forest yielding shade and fruit to wide neighborhoods of men.      Ralph Waldo Emerson

Dad's death still feels like a privation, but I am hopeful that, as a family, we can grow and blossom in new ways.