The
Deep in the heart
of every human soul there is a valley.
This is the place
where tenderness, kindness, love and caring, and the appreciation for life and
all it’s wonders dwell.
When we are born
this valley is dark and barren.
The
first time our mother cradles us in her arms and gently kisses our cheek the
first ray of sunshine appears.
As we get a little
bit older and are able to return this kiss the first blades of grass begin to
sprout.
With our first adolescent
kiss come the first shrubs and ground cover plants.
As we mature, and
find our soul mate and marry trees begin to reach toward the sun that was
brought on by that first showing of love.
When our first
child is born flowers explode in the valley and round out the picture.
Now we are whole
and all is right with the world.
When we lose someone who was more than a part of
our lives and really a part of who we are whether human, canine, feline or
whatever the case may be there is a sudden and violent lightning strike in the
valley that sets a corner of the valley ablaze with wildfire that scorches and
blackens this corner of the valley seemingly beyond repair.
But just as in nature after a wildfire the scorched
earth in the valley of our souls eventually begins to heal itself after our
grief has run it’s course.
The blades of grass start to reappear and the
charred trees begin to sprout new growth and eventually all of the flowers and
other vegetation come back even more lush and green than they were before.
Losing someone that has become a part of who we are
is not the end of their playing a role in who we are.
As long as we remember them and all the joys they
brought to our lives they are never really gone but merely safely tucked away
to freely roam the evergreen valley of our soul until we can join them and be
the catalyst for new growth in the evergreen valley of those who loved us.
Written by
Michael L. Hills
6/27/04