There is this quote that I came across a few months back that I really like.
“How can I leave it all behind if I am just coming back to it? How can I make a new beginning if I simply return to the old?’ The answer lies in the return. You will not come back to the ’same old thing.’ What you return to has changed because you have changed. Your perceptions will be altered. You will not incorporate into the same body, status, or world you left behind. The river has been flowing while you were gone. Now it does not look like the same river”. [The Book of the Vision Quest – Steven Foster]
And recently it has really taken on new meaning for me as my mother passed away last week. Giving in to many years of declining health. And while her death was not a surprise to any of us, it has been hard. I am not even sure that it has really even sunk in yet.
We get so wrapped up in the events going on in our own lives that it is easy to lose track of firends and family, even those that you were so close to at one point. I recall last Saturday standing in the yard at my parents home as people would come up to me and share something about mom that touched them. It was as if I was stuck in one of those odd movie scenes where the one character is standing still and everyone else around them is moving by wicked fast. I still feel that way.
I think back to the quote about the River and how all of my life experiences will be altered from this point forward. I think back to the time when my grandfather died and the impact that had on my dad. It changed him. How will this event change me?
