I only have time for a short post, in hopes of placating my daughter Stephanie, who keeps track of such things with all the fierce devotion in her fierce heart.
Important decisions have to be made carefully, because they echo through your life. Several paths close forever when you choose the wrong one, and it's easy to lose your way. You can open your eyes years later and wonder how you came to such a strange place. In the middle of brambles you can find a freshly cut grave, and shudder to think who placed it there, and for who. The memory will haunt you a long time. I still wonder why I didn't realize what I was seeing when I came there. Stephanie remembers it too.
Somewhere in the brambles of the future there is a grave marked for each one of us, and the twisted path we take toward it makes all the difference. The challenge is to step forward with clarity, and mark your path with a purpose, and touch and hold someone meaningfully before you lose your way altogether. The journey of life wasn't meant to be taken in isolation. That leads to despair and emptiness, as forlorn as an unmarked grave in the shadows of time.
Dad--
ReplyDeleteI must say the random grave in the middle of the forest does remain one of the strangest things I've encountered in life. I wish I could remember exactly where it was so we could tell someone but of course it has been years and all I remember is Mary S. Young state park somewhere by the river and a fence cuz we were totally lost (because yes Dad they do in fact make real trails for a reason).
Me