Dear Mom,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unfortunately, I went to a funeral yesterday, too. For a way-too-young-to-die woman who was both a dear friend and the mother of another dear friend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s always sad when someone dies, but somehow it feels even worse when it\u2019s a person described by everyone as \u201cso full of life\u201d. After all, the more you love life, the harder it is to let go. And when you do, you leave a bigger mark on the world but also a bigger hole in people\u2019s hearts. Friendships, relationships and experiences end mid-story. That was certainly the case here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although the loss of her mother was most profound for my friend, at the funeral she somehow seemed more at peace than most of the people sitting in the pews behind her. I thought to myself: It must not have hit her yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tears rolling down my cheeks, I listened to the rabbi talk about the relationship between mother and daughter, herself a new mother. He talked about their life together. He recounted a few of the millions of memories they\u2019d made over what\u2019s now officially a lifetime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it was what he said next that took me straight to what I believe must be the source of my friend\u2019s peace. Between these two people, he said, \u201cnothing was left unsaid in the realm of love.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s a saying here that Finns only say \u201cI love you\u201d on two occasions \u2013 on their wedding day and their death bed. It\u2019s a generalization, of course. But the funny thing about generalizations is that they\u2019re often true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The \u201cargument\u201d is that if you say it too much it loses its meaning. Yeah, that makes sense. In the same way that it makes sense to hold your breath to save air or to pee once a week in order to conserve toilet paper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I can\u2019t tell you how many times I\u2019ve heard people complain about how fake Americans are because we \u201clove\u201d everyone from the baristas at our local Starbucks to our dogs. I don\u2019t understand \u2013 how can you not love someone who makes your soy latte every morning?!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the funeral, my friend said: \u201cI\u2019m going to miss her every day, but today my life goes on.\u201d And I know it will. In no small part because nothing was left unsaid in the realm of love. There will be no waking up in the night and thinking \u201cI wish I had told her\u201d for my friend. No fear of \u201cI hope she knew\u201d. She did know. They both did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some of the greatest life lessons are learned in death. Janice and Sophie have something to teach us all. Love is how you stay alive even after you\u2019re gone. Leave nothing unsaid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Love you,\nLissu<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dear Mom, Unfortunately, I went to a funeral yesterday, too. For a way-too-young-to-die woman who was both a dear friend and the mother of another dear friend. It\u2019s always sad when someone dies, but somehow it feels even worse when it\u2019s a person described by everyone as \u201cso full of life\u201d.
\nAfter a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":147,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"asauth_required_access_level":0,"asauth_cansharepaid":"true","om_header_attributes":[],"footnotes":"","om_featured_image_focal_point":[],"om_primary_tag":0,"om_contributors":[],"om_co_authors":[],"beyondwords_generate_audio":"","beyondwords_project_id":"","beyondwords_content_id":"","beyondwords_preview_token":"","beyondwords_player_content":"","beyondwords_player_style":"","beyondwords_language_code":"","beyondwords_language_id":"","beyondwords_title_voice_id":"","beyondwords_body_voice_id":"","beyondwords_summary_voice_id":"","beyondwords_error_message":"","beyondwords_disabled":"","beyondwords_delete_content":"","beyondwords_podcast_id":"","beyondwords_hash":"","publish_post_to_speechkit":"","speechkit_hash":"","speechkit_generate_audio":"","speechkit_project_id":"","speechkit_podcast_id":"","speechkit_error_message":"","speechkit_disabled":"","speechkit_access_key":"","speechkit_error":"","speechkit_info":"","speechkit_response":"","speechkit_retries":"","speechkit_status":"","speechkit_updated_at":"","_speechkit_link":"","_speechkit_text":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[99,98,83],"class_list":["post-139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kirjeita-aidille","tag-lessons","tag-life","tag-love"],"om_views":null,"acf":{"tuuma_off":false,"tuuma_kysymys":"","tuuma_vastaus":""},"asauth":{"required_access_level":1,"share_token":"","is_paid":false},"yoast_head":"\n