Treatment #2

I came to sit with you today. Oh my goodness is it beautiful here. It really is the perfect place for you. We could all argue that point. Here with us would be a better place but really, it is perfect. Your vision of the trees will alter with the seasons. Judging by the field to my right you will always be enveloped with some system of agriculture. Based too on the view ahead of me, you should in one way or another have the occasional or often visit by some creature to which you are spiritually connected. The sun will shine bright over you regardless of the calendar yet the season and the sky will play into the warmth that embraces you. There are sounds that reflect life all around you. Not only in the insects that talk, you have birds that each sing a different tune. The cacophony of that alone is joyous to my ear. You have the leaves that whisper their gentle words and touch over the ground as the grasses join in the sound of rich carol. And the storms my friend, I am sure they are magnificent. There is too, the sound of humanity along the edge of this paradise. That reminder that with all things, life still moves on. It is an unpleasant sound to the ear yet it is the sound of acceptance as well. The mourning for us will never end. The cries in the dark. The moments of remembering and the halt of the feet as realization sinks in yet again that you are not here. These things will never stop. And really who would want them to. It is now the vital tie that binds the past to present and embraces the days to come. No, our days will never be the same again but what comfort in knowing that here is where you are. Only a moment away. Not only by this place that marks you arrival, but in all that is. This bench is a pleasant way to sit with you. There are so many things even I this day still wish I could say. Those moments of time sealed in my mind when my words may have been more adult and corrective. When my frustration was more about adult than in understanding. My actions were more adult than in friendship. But there is that fine line where not all adults are meant to be your friend and more of an adult. I always felt that way about you. Sometimes we have enough friends, we need those who level us out and remind us of what we were meant to be. I have a few from my own past that, to this day I fear but my respect for them out weighs anything that comes to mind. I always wanted to be that kind of adult for you. You had my heart from the start but I always let my own expectations be my plum line for you. And for this, today I wish I had also known the other you. The one that others cling to when they think of you. Oh, believe me I saw you behind that smile and I loved every minute of you. It's just others have different memories of you my friend. And I wish in the grand scheme of life we could all learn those pieces of others and touch and feel, embrace and nurture, hold and protect, and just see with a lens made clear. Today I miss you kiddo. Today I am honored to be the one you are sharing this time with. The wind is rustling the balloon that in my mind is your way of saying, were I here, this helium would be mine... in an incredibly funny voice. I could never be more proud of you than I am at his moment. You my friend are sitting pretty now. And really who better to sit with. I imagine the stuff you have seen that you had never imagined. You are experiencing great things from the seat you now occupy. The world changes before you eyes. Yet the glory of the Lord is your daily refuge. We struggle with things here on earth. Hurricanes, fires, storms, abuse, health, worries, pain, physical and emotional, we struggle yet you are surrounded by our fears. You have the gift of sight with clear vision of knowing where we are and how we are feeling. And it is from those moments that we feel you near. Your smile is changing the world my friend and I can feel it from the touch you laid on my cheek in the rush of the winds. My hope rests in you Jesus, and my trust that you are holding us near. I have faith that we have shared this day. You knowing just how amazing you are, how much you are loved, the incredible sadness with which you are missed, and that you feel our loss as equally as we feel your loss as well. I love you Jake. Thanks for spending the afternoon with me...