I have heard people say some very unusual things, as I'm sure all of you have. Some were wise, some foolish, and some were even nonsensical. And, I know that most of us, (me ), have a few of these pearls hanging around our own necks. Someone said something to me last Thursday while I was in the waiting room at my doctor's. I typed it up right away on my iPad, before I could forget or remembered it incorrectly. It was something I had never heard before, and I've been pondering it since then. I looked at it from every perspective I could image, and I'm still not sure how to take it. So I would like to see what all of you think of it. "A deep sadness can bring it's own sort of comfort. A reassurance that it will never leave, and it belongs to you alone." What unusual sayings or blunders have you heard?
@Ina I. Wonder ...huuuum... well I kinda get that. Can't explain that though... I need me coffee,will think about this.
Well the only thing I can think the gentleman meant was maybe, " A sad memory is better than no memory." He lost a child about the same time I lost my youngest son. I know that loosing a child always leaves you with a sadness. And, although loosing a child leaves you with a permanent sadness, the memories of that child, sad or happy, are precious. I guess the remark just hit a nerve with me. We had three sons, two were biological, and one was adopted, but all are gone now along with my husband. Yes it is sad, but it's been 3 and 2&1/2 years since my youngest son and husband left this world. Now the good memories are starting to surface and override the sad ones. I hope this happens for that gentleman as well.
@Ina I. Wonder - agree with what 'you' say but sadness brings no reassurance - especially if it 'never' leaves
Bless your heart...had no idea you lost so many in your family. I think maybe you summed it ...as I cant come up with anything different.
Ina, throughout your life,you seem to have zeroed in on the key to finding answers. You have a gift for asking questions. I just can't see how a deep sadness can produce comfort. It is like an attempt to put a positive spin on a very negative force. I have read a quote, by Scott Hahn, that says "Love transforms suffering into sacrifice". That thought may apply here.
@Joe Riley , yes I can see how that applies. That brings to mind childbearing. Or the way men throughout history have served in the military. And, not lastly, but when Christ went through all his perils. Another thought the gentleman's comment brings to mind is that old saying, (I'll be paraphrasing here.), "It is better to have loved and lost, than to have never loved at all." Most of all the gentleman made me stop and think, and that is never a bad thing.
We were in Southern Spain and had just been on a coach tour of some wineries in the mountains. It was a sunny day so we were all dresed in shorts and open toed sandals... and when we'd come out from our lunch afterwards to wait for the coach it started to rain heavily.. 2 Irish women were standing near us.. and had covered their top halfs with a plastic mac..but of course everyones' bottoms halfs were getting soaked. One of the Irish woman said to the other ( and you gotta say this to yourself in a broad Oirish accent).... '''oooh Kathleen, my feet are sooo cold, and she paused for a minute , then she continued ... I think it must be because they're so close to the ground'' !! I thought my husband was never going to stop laughing!!