Sunday, April 29, 2012

The UnWedding



It’s Saturday night late and I’m in a hotel that happens to have a wedding reception going on this evening.

It’s fun to see the happy couple, all smiles, with their future bright and shiny in front of them.

And since their revelry seems to have escaped the ballroom, it appears that I’m up for a bit tonight.

My mind starts to wander and I find myself smiling as I recall the day Bill and I got married. 

The thought popped into my head that after Bill’s diagnosis, the last few years of our marriage were like getting ready for an ‘Un-Wedding’, or our wedding but only in reverse.

For our wedding……..
For Bill’s funeral…….
·  Had a long engagement leading up to the wedding
·  Had a long dis-engagement leading up to the funeral
·  He popped the question
·  He got the diagnosis / prognosis
·  Told our friends and family
·  Told our friends and family
·  Picked our date
·  Waited for the date
·  Picked our flowers
·  Picked the flowers
·  Picked our location
·  Picked the funeral home
·  Picked our wedding party
·  Picked his pallbearers
·  Found the minister
·  Found the minister
·  Printed invitations
·  Printed memorials
·  Ran announcement in paper
·  Ran obituary in paper
·  Picked our house to live in
·  Picked his cemetery plot 
·  Held wedding / reception
·  Held funeral / wake
·  Sent thank you cards
·  Sent thank you cards
·  Closed individual accounts and opened joint accounts
·  Closed joint accounts and opened individual accounts
· Being together then
·  Being separate now


I know how hard this was for Bill and me to work through his prognosis, accept his dying, and plan for our separation.  I treasure that time.

And having treasured the end years, I cannot fathom the pain you must go through if your spouse is taken from you suddenly, unexpectedly.  Is the emotional pain is similar to being left at the altar?  You have burning questions as to why, and know you will never see your spouse again in this lifetime so answers harder to find and accept?

My heart goes out to all of us who have lost a spouse and are surviving in whatever the stage of grief you find yourself in at this time.

We will get through this with the help of our friends, some old, some new.

I wish you peace for now.  Joy will return in time.






Copyright 2012.  All rights reserved.

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