If you are a visual person, you probably look at the pictures I post with my blogs before reading them. I am a visual person, so the pictures are important to me. I take anywhere from fifteen minutes to two hours to find or create just the right one. Well, this week’s picture tells a story with a lesson.
Two of my granddaughters are being hugged by their momma because mom and dad had decided to get rid of a tall stump in their yard. The back story is that the tree had been taken down some time before, so the girls had been using it as a playground prop. They loved it. It was one of their “buddies.” They climbed it and hung out on it.
The family was in the process of preparing their home to sell as they were moving several states away. That hadn’t really sunk into the girls’ sweet hearts as yet, but that huge stump going – that was something they could wrap their hearts around.
So, momma was excitedly watching the tree removal guy with his fancy, new style, chewing tool chomping that trunk down really fast. She was having so much fun watching it, she tells the girls, “Come and see the machine working! It’s really amazing how fast it goes.” The girls take one look at it and both of them burst into tears. Momma had forgotten it was their favorite stump.
In a matter of an intake of breath, momma is sitting and hugging both girls as they sob on her shoulders. Who would have guessed they would be so heartbroken over a tree stump? It doesn’t matter that they are still young or innocent or lacking in the knowledge of what real loss is. They must start somewhere in the learning process. And that day was one step in learning about loss and what is really important.
Momma managed to calm them, and eventually they went back to their inside playing. But I bet they never quite forget that stump, or the neighborhood kids, or their favorite thing about that house and yard. It is how we are made. We are all on a journey of discovery. Of ourselves, of others, of life. Where we are on the path is often different than the people around us. Some of us get stuck on that path for a while, too, but it is each person's journey and choice to decide to move on. Let us be ever careful with others’ feelings and remember that what we care about or mourn for and how we mourn – or how long we mourn – may be different for another or at a different stage. Be patient and gentle. We were once where they are – or we will one day be where those who have learned before us are.
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