Last night somebody's world changed

Go with kindness today

Last night

Last night, someone laid their child to rest, for the very last time. Someone I know and don’t know. Their boy at the cusp of an adulthood that was not yet written.

Last night the world changed for that mother, father, the brothers, the friends and loved ones in a way that words will never be able to hold.

Last night they joined the club that nobody ever wants to join, along with countless families  across the world who will have experienced their own ‘last night’.

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Earlier this week I met up with a dear writer friend who I had previously only connected with online. Four years ago, she also laid her child to rest. Four years ago, her family had their own ‘last night’.

Whilst I write quite a lot about grief, I do not feel equipped to write about this most painfully exquisite of grief experiences, the loss of a child. It is not mine to write.

All I feel able to express is that I shall try to travel with kindness today. This is not the ‘live every moment/carpe diem’ mantra; this is smaller, yet so much bigger. This is about bringing compassion into how we exist in the world. Caring for those that cross our paths. Those that seem angry and tired this morning. Those that are intolerant and bitter. Those that hurt because they are hurting. Those that look lost, that have become a shadow of themselves, that may shatter at a wisp.

Let’s never underestimate the power of a smile, a soft look or a kind word to a friend or a stranger. We never know how their world may have changed…

…last night.

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