The Os of Life and Death

And O there are days in this life, worth life and worth death.
Charles Dickens

This saying means everything after the Pentecost weekend we have experienced in our family.
Saturday evening, watching TV with my beloved Arnfinn, he suffered what the doctors debated was a heart attack or not. He was rushed to the hospital in Oslo in an ambulance and went through extensive testing and treatment during the night.

Now he is home again. He is alive! And we are happy to have more time together.

Life is fragile. An experience like that is an eye opener for many, especially the younger members of our family, but also the older, as it makes you want to make the best out of the days we have together here on the earth.

To top it off, I went to the funeral of a good friend yesterday. Her children and friends praised her and reminisced on the many unforgettable, funny and unselfish acts of kindness and love this woman had shown throughout her life.

The variety of days in life, like Dickens mentions in the saying above, is important. There are moment when sadness, despair or pain may overcome us in a way, that we wish for a better life on the other side of the veil. Then again, the next morning, the sun is shining, the birds are singing - and here at the Duck and Cherry, I can add, the sheep are bleating - and we are grateful to be alive and enjoy another beautiful day under a Heavenly Father's watchful care.

So, on a personal note, I have a husband who is a pillar in my life. He encourages me to be better, and believes in me when I don't. He makes me laugh - a lot - and he strives every day to be a better man.

Below are a few words of wisdom about life.

“Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”― Dr. Seuss

“You’ve gotta dance like there’s nobody watching, Love like you’ll never be hurt, Sing like there’s nobody listening, And live like it’s heaven on earth.”― William W. Purkey

“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.”― Oscar Wilde

“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.”― Dr. Seuss

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.”― Albert Einstein

“If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.”― Lewis Carroll

“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.”― George Bernard Shaw

“Where there is love there is life.”― Mahatma Gandhi

Photo today, Arnfinn as "Bestefar" and Aksel, one of our grandsons, at the cabin.



June 9, 1865: Charles Dickens was in a train derailment in England, 149 years ago today. He climbed out a window and saved the manuscript of Our Mutual Friend, but didn't leave the scene until he'd brought the victims water from a nearby river, which he ferried in his top hat.