No llores

02.04.07

No llores porque ya se terminó... sonríe, porque sucedió."

Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the Colombian writer, once said that we should not cry for the end of something, rather smile and be glad that it happened.

We can therefore apply that to your life and our friendships with you.

We should be glad that we were fortunate to have met you, known you and shared our lives with you. We should be glad that you formed part of our everyday existence and that we were blessed to have even the most fleeting of moments with you. We should be glad, that even though you did not live nearly as long as you should have, that we walked along side you for much or a part of your life. We should be glad that you made us laugh and laughed with us. We should be glad that you loved us and demonstrated that love in countless way. We should be glad that your goodness made us better and kinder people and in some strange way, we should be glad that the very same legacy is what you left for us to remember you by.

We cannot be glad, however, that so much of your life and your goodness was dedicated to those who didn't care for you and whose unkindness and misery infected you - nor should we be glad that you couldn't share all of that with us. We cannot be glad that for all the love we gave you, we still couldn't save you and help you see that it was worth staying here with us, regardless of how impossible that it seemed. We cannot be glad at how you died, nor indeed at the manner of your death.

But we can be glad that we were privileged enough to have you with us, beside us and among us however transient and ephemeral that proved to be.

Marquez also said: "La memoria del corazón elimina los malos recuerdos y magnifica los buenos, y gracias a ese artificio, logramos sobrellevar el pasado", which means, "the memory of the heart eliminates the bad memories and magnifies the good ones, and thanks to this we are able to carry on and carry our past with us."


There you have it, I will wait for the coronary magnifying glass to kick in and tell you John that we are glad; because we love you.