The Love Will Remain

Recently, a close friend of mine was visiting his ailing, 94 year old Grandpa.  My friend was incredibly close to his grandfather, and he could sense that his time to pass was fast approaching.  Curled up next to his grandfather one evening, his grandpa whispered these words in his ear, "When I am gone, the Love between us remains."  With tears in his eyes, my friend held the Love to his heart.

My dear Tutu (Grandma in Hawaiian), passed away in April of 2003, a month before I graduated from Whittier College.  We were best friends and this was a very challenging experience for me.  I had been very excited to dedicate my graduation speech to her, however I was desperately hoping she would be there for the ceremony.  Throughout the speech, I spoke of her Love for people and life, and the way she danced to the beat of her own drum.

After the speech my Mom approached me with a small box. "She bought this for you for your graduation present, " my Mom said gently.  "I found it when I was going through her apartment."

Inside the box, was a beautiful, silver necklace containing four, small, silver rectangles.  Each rectangle had a different word on the front, with the rest of the quote on the back. "Dance like no one is watching. Love like you'll never be hurt.  Sing like no one can hear you.  Live like heaven is on earth." I adored the quote and treasured the necklace deeply.

Two weeks later, I was traveling around Europe and left my backpack in a locked hostel room in Vienna.  When I returned for my bag, I noticed someone had emptied all my jewelry out of my jewelry box.  ALL my bracelets, earrings, and necklaces were gone.

I burst into tears.  I didn't care about anything in that box, except for the necklace from Tutu.  It felt like the one item I owned that held her spirit.  I felt like it kept her in my life.  On the train to Paris, I cried the entire way.

When we arrived in France, I checked into my hostel, and decided to look in my jewelry box one last time.  I noticed a flash of silver.

"What?" I thought to myself. "There was NOTHING in the box in Vienna!"

I reached down and pulled out one silver rectangle, an "impossibility" because the charms were latched on to the rest of the necklace and could not slip or be pulled off. 

However, there it was, the LOVE rectangle, in the box that had once been empty.  I felt Tutu's presence, spirit, and light ALL around me.  With tears in my eyes, I held the Love to my heart.

"Love like you'll never be hurt."

"When I am gone, the love remains."

To  my Tutu, my dear friend's Grampy, to all who have passed...we feel you, we honor you, and we know the LOVE between us remains.

With tears in our eyes, we hold the LOVE to our hearts.