Life Is For The Living

As he was walking through the cemetery he became aware of how time seems to stand still at times. He knew it was only perception but the head stones seemed to be yelling that in this place time was not moving for those under the stones that stood so tall and bore names, dates and final sayings. Within the gates of the cemetery there seemed to be an eerie quiet that was only disturbed by the sounds that crept into the place from the roads, buildings and people who were moving about on the outside of this place. Out there, on the outskirts and further on down the road time seemed to be moving but within the gates that enclosed all who resided here time had stopped. Time had ceased at different moments in history and that stoppage was well noted in stone at the head of the graves.

He felt strange moving about among those whose experience of time had ceased while for him time was still going on, for how long, only time would tell. This experience reminded him of that time which happened so long ago when his wife and he waited for their Doctor to come to his office. She was holding a towel in her hand which contained the hard shell which came out of her body as she aborted what should have been their eighth child. They called the Doctor and he instructed her to take the remains and go to his office so he could examine her and what should have been their last child. The day was a beautiful sunny Spring day which still had a bit of chill left in it from the Winter which had just past. People were out walking some on business some just enjoying the day, many were couples enjoying the weather and each other. He and his wife were in shock. It was as though time had stopped for them and they were living in space watching the people around them who were not aware of the tragedy which she was holding in her lap. They felt invisible. Their emotions were raw and they wanted to cry out to those who seemed to be in another universe, "Stop and listen we have lost a life and we are bleeding as we sit here with that lost life as we await our Doctor who can do nothing to restore that life rather just bring us back to the land of the living in time to do what we must in order to keep on living.". Eventually the Doctor came and restored order by telling us she had to go into the hospital for a D&C and that life would go on. From that moment the surreal feeling of the day subsided and the clock started ticking and time was moving again. The good thing about time is that it continues to move steadily ahead while one lives and forces you to take care of the business of living.

He finally found the head stone he was looking for. He stopped and looked at it while memory flashes of their time together flashed through his mind. For sure this moment was just like the time of their aborted child. But she was dead and the noise from outside the gates, the sounds of life were starting to beckon to him. He brought his hand to his lips, kissed his fingertips and transferred the kiss to the place on the stone which bore her name. "Goodbye, honey, got to go now there are things I've got to do in the land of the living.". He turned and found the walk which led him out of the cemetery into the land of the living where time moves on and one must move along to where life takes you.