Open Writing

"If there's anything I can do, please let me know."
How many time have we heard that phrase spoken.

Sometimes it's not easy to know what to do or say when
tragedy falls on someone that we love. We feel like we
have to fill the silence with words and the emptiness
with action and I suppose that is the natural response
within all of us when we want to help.

There's certainly nothing wrong with asking or in doing
something. We should do all that we can to help others
in every way that we can, but sometimes there is
nothing that can be done. All the doing and fixing has been
done or tried and all the words have already been said.

What do you "do" for someone whose heart is broken or
whose world has been torn apart? When there is a great
loss or perhaps the death of someone who was dearly
loved, is there really anything that anyone can "do"?

I might never have known how to answer
these questions, except for Lynn. . .

The answer came to me at a time of great loss in
my own life. My mother had died, and that was when
Lynn came by the funeral home. It was the afternoon
before the visitation and I happened to be there alone
because everyone else had gone to dinner. The rest
of the family wanted me to go with them but I just
couldn't go because I felt the need to stay there.

I was sitting in the front with my back to the door
When I heard someone come into the room. I turned
to look and I saw that it was Lynn. He slowly walked
toward me, said my name, and sat down beside me.

He just sat there. He didn't say a word unless
I said something to him and if I became quiet,
he was comfortable with the silence.

He sat there with me for a long time and then after
awhile my family returned and others had come into
the room. I didn't even notice when Lynn went home.

What did Lynn "do"? It was the best thing that
anyone could have done for me at that time. . .
he just sat there.

I hadn't seen Lynn for years. I began first grade
with him and we graduated from high school together,
yet I never really knew Lynn very well. There was
just that bond that only the people who go
all through school together in a small classroom
can know. It's a bond of friendship and it's strong.

Later on, I thought back to the time when we were
children in grade school and that's when I recalled
something important. I remembered that Lynn's
mother had died when he was very young and
left a husband and several small children behind
with Lynn being the oldest. I guess
Lynn knew a lot about pain and loss at an early age.

Do you suppose someone sat with Lynn after
his mother died? Maybe so, and I wonder if
when Lynn's younger siblings cried for their
mother that he simply gathered them next to him
and perhaps . . . he just sat there.

* *
Pam enjoys writing, music, and country living. She writes"Pam's Corner" for the local newspaper and many of her writings have been published on the internet as well
as in several books.

Pam says, "I have loved music and writing ever since I can remember. I play piano at church and I'm an avid reader. One of my goals is to be able to write for my children and grandchildren so special memories will not be forgotten." She has a CD entitled "I'll Walk You Home". If you would like one, they are available by freewill donation. More information as well as a clip from the CD is on her website at
http://www.blaines.us/PamyPlace.htm
e-mail: pamyblaine@blaines.us

Security is not the absence of danger,
but the presence of God"

"NO ONE IS USELESS IN THIS WORLD
WHO LIGHTENS THE BURDEN OF ANYONE ELSE"
http://www.greatcom.org/laws/englishkgp/default.htm