Sunday, January 27, 2008

Dinosaur Love-

Every Saturday morning it is my delightful task to take my little grandaughter to dance class. I am always welcomed with squeals of delight and the knowledge the day belongs to us. But this past Saturday was one of particular delight. It was the first day of her new car seat. She would no longer be in a "baby" seat, but now would be in a big kids booster seat and wear a grown-up seat belt. What a momentous day! As we started on our way to the studio, we reveled in this new phase of childhood rite of passage. What joy was in the car that day. She was a "big girl now". Then, with the quiet precociousness she so aptly has, she says, "Did I fix your broken heart?". It only took a second for the words to register in my brain. But in that second, the life of my broken dreams and loves flashed before me like lightening in a dark sky. I wasn't sure if I really heard her correctly. So I took a chance and answered the only way I could and told her my heart was fixed the day she was born.

However, her words washed over me bringing with them a torrent of emotions and memories. Those words, spoken so innocently, pierced the very core of my being. Every broken dream, every lost love, every failed attempt to find peace in a world of usery and hate, stood out in sharp contrast to my then and now life. I couldn't help but think what mythological creature had been at my birth to have cast a curse of always loving but never receiving love in return? What cruel twist of nature was this that couldn't be explained by a laboratory test? Better yet, what cruel joke was this? And why me? What had I done before birth to have caused such a weighty judgement having been passed on me? What and whose sins was I paying for with the price of my heart and my emotions?

There are some right now who would read this and think how dramatic. Why don't I just grow up, deal with it and get past it. Stop being such a drama queen. But then there are those, and you know who you are, who will read this and know this is not dramatics or literary embellishment. And there is one who will read this and know the facts are true and attest to their truthfulness.

So I leave you with these final words. Words that I pray you will think about and take to your own heart. For life is short and death long. None of us know the amount of time allotted to us. Use it wisely. Live life giving all the love you have. Take a chance on love, take a chance on reaching out for the unknown. Where would any of us be if those who have gone before us never took a chance at exploring new lands, new ideas. Explore what is inside of you. Soon people like me will be no more. The lovers of love in this world are truely a rare commodity. We are the people who make this world bearable. We are the ones who are willing to lay ourselves down on the altars of hate and intolerance in order for the balance of this world to remain so. Our tears fall unseen, our cries for love unheard, our need to feel the strong arms of someone's love around us go unfelt.

When the lovers of this world are gone, who will replenish you? Where will you turn to find the poems and songs and books written about love? Who will help you to express yourself? Not me. For I won't be here any more. I will have gone the way of the dinosaur.

Don't cry for me. Cry for you.