Wouldn’t it be sad if after we die, we’re forgotten? I relate the sadness one feels to their measure of how much they loved that person. I am a fan of tears and emotions after someone passes away. It makes some people uncomfortable, but I know it just means they really loved the person. I feel warm and fuzzy with their tears. I love the stories they tell with tears rolling down their cheeks.
There is nothing as sweet as listening to someone talk about memories of someone who is no longer here. Even if I never met the person who passed away, I feel like I know them from all the stories shared.
If I happen to be at a funeral, I will cry the moment the music starts. My sister was once asked to quit the choir because she sobbed louder than the families, at their loved one’s funeral. We have strong emotional genes in our family.
When I gathered the stories for Angel Bumps, one of my favorite things was reading about people’s memories. The things they cherished were not usually expensive things or a big inheritance; they were small, simple things that they kept tucked away to remember. It was personal. When the Angel Bump came, it came with a loving force that couldn’t be denied.
A loving force…Doesn’t that sound lovely? Usually when we think of force, it conjures up anger or the fury of a storm. A loving force would be gentle and encompassing. Maybe a person has never experienced that from a loved one when they were alive. Now when the gift arrives they are able to receive it.
I like to think that resentments and old arguments that we stuffed away are left at the gates of Heaven. When St. Peter opens the gates, there’s a pile of backpacks filled with regrets, sadness and anger from Earth. There are no backpacks in Heaven; no grudges to carry, no hatred to weigh one down, and ill will is dissolved.
With the weight of the backpack of pain gone, the person can live a new and rejuvenated life. They become joyful and healed. They can see their missed opportunities on Earth. Often, the reason they reach out with signs is to apologize for hurts or damages they may have caused, even if unintended.
Imagine if we learned to do that while we’re alive! Imagine the weight we carry in our own backpacks, day after day, promising ourselves we’ll take care of it tomorrow. And yet, we walk bent over the next day with our imaginary backpack so full that we can’t walk straight up and see the beauty of the day right before our eyes. The heavy weight keeps us down. We exhaust ourselves with self imposed misery. We wouldn’t have to wait until we cross over to let people know we love them. We wouldn’t have to wait to harbor grudges and keep a distance from someone we really love.
It would change the stories people tell after funerals. I can only tell you that I am so glad I made amends with someone I love. We both cried and hugged. Love came tumbling down. Regrets are a terrible thing to carry. You can’t go back. You just can’t. So decide now.
I hope you can ditch your backpack before St Peter welcomes you. Go make those amends, say you’re sorry, and hug an old friend who you miss. Life is too short to carry that weight. I just put my backpack in the trash bin. I almost grabbed it and slung it back on my shoulder. But that moment of standing free felt pretty darn good.
St Peter is smiling! You will be too.