Measuring Loss of a Loved One

The kindness shown towards me from people I hardly even knew is something I will never forget. Within weeks of my mother’s diagnoses the refrigerator was suddenly full of dishes home prepared by neighbors and friends of the family. It felt as if every other day I would open the door to another face bearing a dish and heating instructions. It always meant a lot to me that people cared enough to take time out of their day and expend energy even though everyone has their own challenges just for the sake of my family and I. When you’re young and going through something such as losing a beloved parent you begin to harbor some bitter tendencies towards the world, and I truly did as exampled by my actions on my videogame. Even though I did not realize it then, seeing the selflessness that people can exert when they truly care aided me in overcoming my bitter tendencies. Perhaps to qualify the fifth measure of a tragedy we need to examine is whom it affects. Using the example of a lost wallet, not only are all of those thing recoverable with scant effort, but it truly only impacts one person; yourself. The measure of a tragedy is not a personal experience such as losing a wallet, but instead it is a shared experience. Losing someone close to you is a tragedy for a multitude of reasons, but chiefly because of the sheer number of people it inevitably affects.

What loss comes down to in the end is that it is difficult to measure regardless of circumstance, and most likely is measured differently by each of us. For me, I conclude it is always important to remember whom you have lost and loved, and equally important to remember not just what you have lost, but what you have gained through knowing them. It is important to hold onto these memories for yourself and others, yet there will always be a physical void which you expected your loved one to fill, which should only strengthen your resolve to never forget them. It is my hope that by examining my own feelings about the loss of my mother that I can better accept this physical void and cherish the memories that I cling to all the more strongly, and provide a path to follow for others with may be faced with a similar challenge of “measuring the immeasurable”.