A while ago I wrote a post about my two co-workers at The Second Road who were going through some very rough times.  Both of their sisters were battling metastatic breast cancer.  Beth, our development director, has been spending the last couple of months taking care of her sister, her 7 year old nephew and 10 year old niece, and re-scheduling her entire life to be available to attend to her sister during this horrific period of transition.  Melissa, our Executive Director, has been going back and forth to New York for the last several months, trying to manage her sister’s illness and her affairs.  Melissa’s sister has six adopted children, some of whom have special needs, and the fallout of her sister’s illness has had an overwhelming effect on the whole family.

Both sisters died within 10 days of each other and Melissa and Beth have been dealing with the logistics and loss of their sisters, while trying to take care of memorial services, last wishes, burial business and, in Melissa’s case, having the added stress of suddenly becoming the guardian of three of her nieces and nephews.  Needless to say, the air at The Second Road has been turned into a dense fog, where we can’t seem to maneuver in any one direction for any length of time.

Death is real.  It happens to every single one of us.  To some, it is merely a bump in the continuing road of our journey.  To others, it is a devastating end to the only life we know.  One of the sisters was 45, the other 53, and no matter how one views the transition of death, one does not expect it to come until much later in life.  Both these women were short changed, but that is not something that any one of us can control, is it?

The memorial services are over, both women are back in the office, but things are not back to normal.  Both Melissa and Beth appear a little older, a little less enthusiastic about our work here, and their minds tend to wander to places only they can inhabit.  This is life on life’s terms.  This is the part called death.

I have immense pride for what both these courageous women have been through in the last months.  They have shown me that one can come through the most tragic situations, a bit tarnished, but whole nevertheless.  I ask you to keep them in your thoughts and prayers as they continue on their journey called life.

Till Next Time -

Your Humble Road Warrior