Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/tinybuddha/~3/ZfLZ4s6sF-c/
“Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss in life is what dies inside us while we live” ~Norman Cousins
I am not dead and I am not dying, so you may wonder why I write that death has taught me what I need to know about life.
I lost my mother when I was fifteen. Being a teenager, thoughts of anyone close to me dying had not entered my head. My mother had a brief illness and passed away unexpectedly at age forty-seven.
I remember that my schoolmates came to see me, and I kept thinking that they had their moms. More than being sad that I had lost my mom, I was angry that I had been placed in that position. I missed my mom a lot and just wanted her to come back and be with me.
I started developing a fear that my father would die soon too. When I was in my early thirties, my fears came true when my dad passed away suddenly after a heart attack. He was a skilled physician, a kind man, and more importantly, a wonderful father to me.
As if my dad’s passing away was not enough, my older sister died unexpectedly a year later. I always considered her a strong person, and I could not fathom how she could have died.
To add insult to injury, another sister of mine passed away soon after that.
By then, I had decided that the Universe was conspiring against me. I did…