An uncle who recently lost his wife to a rare and out-of-the-blue illness finds the strength to go about his daily life, be the father his young children now desperately need, and be the brilliant pediatrician his patients and the world in general needs. Thinking about how dark his private moments must be (in public and with people, he still finds his sense of humour, never betraying the sense of loss we all know he must be going through), I feel a restriction in my chest...and I question how one deals with such situations.
He himself presented the answer without being asked.
In a gathering of close family, he stood up, thanked everyone for coming and supporting him and his children, and then said something I will never ever forget. He said, "Here is my philosophy in life - I believe that pain is a given. But I also believe that suffering is our choice."
A good friend commented on one of my earlier posts on Faith - he said that maybe all that Faith is is an antidote to helplessness. Maybe so.
But maybe also, it is a lifeline that keeps you moving forward, when every single one of the chips is down.
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