The Life Beyond and The Life Left Behind

I sit and contemplate Alec’s entrance into the after life.  I see how he farewelled this life with hesitation (90 odd years)  but, I am sure he has entered the next, with music in his heart and at his fingertips.  This man will be tinkling the ivories with the best of them that are in that concert hall.  He will be sharing with his new found friends, and family, the wonderful memories of his life with Mary and the girls.  He will have already mapped the quickest ways to get around this great space and no GPS required.  This man was the master of transport and music.  His dry wit will have each, and everyone, in stitches and his loveable and jovial nature will bring all to sit beside him to hear of his life and love of a great woman.  

As we sit here thinking of how to carry on now that he is gone, we can only think of the void that is left with his absence.  Instead, we should think of this no fuss man who would not want us sitting around moping his leaving the building.  He would want everyone to carry on as before without the troubles of the last few years.  He would want the world to go back to normal and, for everyone, especially his beloved Mary to start living again.  He would want for all to remember the fun that they had experienced.  He would want everyone to rejoice, that the time spent was an adventure, and that the next adventure is just around the corner waiting.  And indeed, when our time comes we will all find that adventure with him at the helm no doubt. 

Death is very hard for us to bear but, if we think beyond ourselves for a moment, we will see the only people suffering are those that are left behind.  The departed are already planning the banquet, and the music, for our entrance to that great concert hall of our afterlife.  All they want, is for us to enjoy and make a better life for those that we will leave behind.  We have to make a difference, a contribution, so that when we leave our mortal coil, someone will be at least a little happier for knowing us. 

In dying, the challenge that Alec and many before him have set for us, is to do exactly that, to make a difference, to reach out and touch someones life.  To create memories, to encourage others to dream, to leave a footprint on this earth that others may follow. 

Life is going to be tough for a while, while we are looking around to see if our loved one is there.  However, if we think outside the square, and look to our side, that loved one is right beside us forever.  No, not in the physical sense, but their love is so strong that we will feel true love whether it is visible or not.  That love has been bequeathed to us, so that we may pass it on to those that we will leave behind someday. 

If we have truly been loved, and we have truly loved, that love can never die.  That love will simply ignite from us to others around us, if we only pass that love forward.  We owe it to our departed to keep their love alive and to pay it forward, to nurture love and kindness and make this a better world for when our time comes to finally close our eyes. 

So now Alec has left us, we owe it to him to not weep and mourn because he has left us but to be positive, to be out there and rejoice his life, and share the happiness that he so wanted and gave to those around him. 

We look forward to one day catching up with him. But for the next while we must carry on and build memories and love for those that we intern will leave one day. 

Take care, be strong and spread the love!

Always - Ella Fitzgerald