LOVE AND FAITH

TODAY: Read this poem: “If I should die and leave you here awhile, Be not like others, sore and undone, Who keep long vigils by the silent dust, and weep. For my sake, turn again to life and smile. Nerving thy heart and trembling hands to do Something to comfort other hearts than thine. Complete these dear unfinished tasks of mine. And I, perchance, may therein comfort you.”

Love is a word that has touched my heart more in the past year than any time in my life. I think we all grow up believing that we know what love is. There is a time that this word, LOVE, takes on a different, deeper, meaning.

During our life, we experience all kinds of love. We loved our parents. We loved to play. We experienced puppy love. We loved dating. I loved and lost, but I finally found the one and only true love. I found my Martha. We loved each other, our children, and our grandchildren. Soon, I will be loving my first great-grandchild. Martha will miss this joy. She has been in her heavenly home for more than a year.

I don’t think we ever really know what love is until we have lost the one we love the most. When Martha went to a better place, my love for her remained stronger than ever. I was devastated and in shock. My mate of 56 years, six months and one day was gone, never to return. Until you have lost a mate, you cannot comprehend what this loss can do to a human being.

My life was torn apart. I went through – no, I am still going through – the grief process. I still experience periods of sadness, loss, and loneliness, but I have survived. My family – two wonderful boys who were guided so skillfully by their mother, the two daughters they brought us and the four grandchildren they gave us – has given me great support.

Living at the Greenspring Retirement Community has been a lifesaver. I have many friends whom I see daily. I have many activities that I am involved in, and I have a loving cat!

My faith is stronger than ever, and it keeps me going. I now have three churches. I go to Oakton United Methodist Church at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday, The Church of the Good Shepherd at 11 a.m. on Sunday and Columbia at Greenspring on Monday night. Columbia at Greenspring is an ecumenical service run by a retired Baptist pastor. He and his wife are two of my best friends. I also have a retired Methodist pastor and his wife who are good friends.

With four pastors looking after me, I can’t stray too far. I know that they will help me to keep my faith strong, so I too will get to heaven some day and be reunited with my Martha.

— Merv Norton

Courtesy of The Church of the Good Shepherd United Methodist