Meaning of Life, Part 77

"He was a gift to us for twenty-five years.  When the gift was finally snatched away, I realized how great it was.  Then I could not tell him.  An outpouring of letters arrived, many expressing appreciation for Eric.  They all made me weep again:  each word of praise a stab of loss.

How can I be thankful, in his gone-ness, for what he was?   I find I am.  But the pain of the no more outweighs the gratitude of the once was.  Will it always be so?

I didn't know how much I loved him until he was gone.

Is love like that?" p. 13


"....Rather often I am asked whether the grief remains as intense as when I wrote.  The answer is, No.  The wound is no longer raw.  But it has not disappeared.  That is as it should be.  If he was worth loving, he is worth grieving over." p. 5

--Nicholas Wolterstorff, Lament For a Son