Coffins are not big enough to contain the ones we love.
If you visit regularly - and thank you, if you do - you may have noticed that posts have been a little less regular in the last couple of weeks. My father-in-law died in mid-December and the funeral was on December 20th. With the travelling and the preparation for Christmas church services, things have been busy for us, to say the least.
It struck me at the funeral, as it has at other funerals, that the coffin never seems large enough to hold the person that we knew. The body, when no longer animated, seems to shrink, sloughed off like a shed snakeskin when the animal needs to grow. The essence and character - the part that gives colour and presence - cannot be contained in a coffin, but is retained in our hearts.
I am so sorry to hear about your loss, Tracy; it's true that the coffins cannot possibly contain all that we've loved, and perhaps that is the pointed reminder from the universe. May your loss be tempered by the love, my friend.
ReplyDelete