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Uplifting experiences

By DANIEL J. PAUL

For The Daily News

As she was preparing to return to her military base for additional training, she stopped to say goodbye to her grandmother, who is 97.5 years old.

As they hugged through tear-filled eyes and large sobs, her grandmother said to her, “When you return home again, I will be watching you from heaven. Do not give up on Jesus because he doesn’t give up on you.” The last memory of her grandmother as she was leaving, was of her watching and waving to her as she walked down the hallway.

It is so hard to say goodbye for long lengths of time, because of the love and close ties that have been nurtured and developed between friends and loved ones. As my mother experienced, so did I, that same day when my daughter was boarding the plane.

Emotions cascaded through me from extreme sadness, loss, and fear, to transformations of being proud and uplifted.

The same feelings are mirrored by all of us to one degree or another. So, how do we cope with these feelings? Here are a few examples of how I have developed these skills.

1. Reminisce Think about all of the positive experiences that were shared and created with this person.

2. Photographs/Movies Reviewing photos and home movies will trigger memories and provide concrete shared experiences that you can ponder.

3. Cell Phone Today, through technology, we have more access to information and people with, for example, cell phones. With these, we can converse at a moment’s notice with those whom we love.

4. Social Media/Skype Through the use of computers and their various capabilities, we can visually communicate in a matter of seconds.

5. Letters/Cards Reviewing handwritten letters or cards written by the person whom we care about will also prompt positive memories of them.

The above-described scene was between my daughter and her grandmother (my mother). It illustrates that we really don’t know when our turn will come to be called home to heaven.

So, we have to live each day as if it were our last, and try to say the things we have been remiss to say, and build on these uplifting experiences. This is what He would want us to do.

Please keep our armed forces, police, firefighters, and all their families in your thoughts and prayers.

Dan Paul is a retired school administrator. His monthly columns explore family and professional relationships.

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